


Book Two: Enduring

by old_and_new_friends



Series: The Candle or The Mirror [2]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Aromantic Character, Asexual Character, Bisexual Male Character, Brainwashing, Changing Point Of View, Character Study, Colonialism, Cultural Differences, Dimension Travel, Explicit Sexual Content, Gay Male Character, Implied/Referenced Sex, Lu Ten (Avatar) Lives, M/M, Male Friendship, PTSD, Time Travel, past abusive relationship, world building
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-28
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:02:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 24
Words: 136,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24961249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/old_and_new_friends/pseuds/old_and_new_friends
Summary: Mako struggles with maintaining his new relationship as outside forces puts pressure on it. He feels like things might go smoother if he didn’t feel seconds away from screwing it all up.For the first time in years, Lu Ten felt in control of his life. This swiftly changes after a run in with his family that leads him and his friends to the spirit forsaken city, he had almost died in.Iroh had always struggled with people, but now it appeared he finally found two people who could accept him for who he was. It was keeping them safe that proved difficult.Four years have passed, since Iroh II and Mako first landed in the past.With their bonds to one another firmly tied together, the three must now confront a past and future they've been long since hiding from.The clock is ticking as time moves forward and the three men can no longer ignore the pull of the war. With children running amuck over the Earth Kingdom and dangers lurking around every corner, their personal struggles aren't the only thing they need to survive.
Relationships: Iroh II & Lu Ten & Mako, Lu Ten/Mako
Series: The Candle or The Mirror [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1668550
Comments: 121
Kudos: 149





	1. Secret Tunnel - Iroh

**Author's Note:**

> Hey Guys! I'm back on my BS and so are our favorite misfits!
> 
> I gave up a word count so let me know if chapters get too long to comfortably read.
> 
> I tag as I post and WARNINGS will be at the beginning of each chapter, just as last time.
> 
> Until I get more written, I'm going back to posting on Sunday's only.
> 
> Please be respectful and if it's not your cup of tea then you're free to leave (no seriously I don't do discourse and will delete any comment if I feel it is inappropriate). That being said feel free to tell me if something needs tagging.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Iroh wasn't expecting to run into singing nomads this morning and he really wasn't expecting to run into his grandparents and great uncle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: (I'm sorry I forgot to post these originally) Lu Ten had a PTSD attack towards the end, Iroh makes vague mentions to an emotionally abusive relationship he was in prior to the start of the series.

Iroh woke up sprawled across the top of Lu Ten’s chest. Mako was curled tightly into their sides.

Iroh snuggled in closer and closed his eyes, only to suddenly find his mattress vibrating with laughter.

“You’re cute,” Lu Ten said, running his hand through Iroh’s hair.

Over the past four months the three of them had grown closer, to Iroh’s surprise. He had been afraid with his two friends getting together, that they would leave him behind. He hadn’t told Mako or Lu Ten, but Iroh had spent the night they had gotten together, clinging to the necklace around his neck, hoping the two wouldn’t go back on the promises they had made.

It was a commonality in some of his previous relationships. That a better, more fulfilling person came along and Iroh was left behind. Sometimes they would stick around, but in those instances Iroh wished they hadn’t, because it was usually a plot to try to change him. 

It hurt, it always hurt but Iroh always got back up and hoped maybe the next person would be different. They never were, and after his last relationship, Iroh had hesitated with others for a longtime. Lu Ten, Mako, and June, who he had fallen back in touch with, had wormed their way in regardless. 

Iroh had never had a relationship that didn’t end at this point.

Mako and Lu Ten never asked for the necklace back, nor did they treat Iroh like he was an inconvenient addition. If anything, the two were now more affectionate towards Iroh, as their affection towards one another grew as well, even going so far as to share a bed. The first time Mako had wrapped his arm around Iroh’s waist, something he had initially only done to Lu Ten, Iroh had been surprised. It was a new touch but not unwelcome.

That seemed to be the theme of their relationship lately. New, but not unwelcome.

Iroh was happy at this dynamic, where Mako and Lu Ten didn’t hesitate to extend affections to him. He was also glad that his friends still respected his boundaries and kept things like their obnoxiously long make-out sessions, most of their sex escapades, and their more lovey-dovey moments away from him.

They didn’t suddenly decide to take Iroh on dates with them, nor did they suddenly cut Iroh off from cuddling and sharing a bed. They seemed perfectly content to take Iroh as he was. Iroh wasn’t sure what to do with it, but he wasn’t going to complain.

“We need to get going,” Lu Ten said. Despite his words, he closed his eyes again.

“Omashu, even as a colony, isn’t going anywhere,” Iroh mumbled. 

Lu Ten laughed. “No, but still, an evacuation route needs to be set up as soon as possible,” Lu Ten replied. He poked and prodded at Iroh’s side until, Iroh finally caved.

Iroh stood with a groan and stretched his arms high.

He noticed as he dropped them that Lu Ten was looking at him. Lu Ten turned to Mako when Iroh fully faced him, and Iroh wrote it off as nothing.

Iroh quickly dressed himself as Lu Ten kissed Mako awake. It was Lu Ten’s new preferred method of waking up their heaviest sleeper.

Lu Ten and Mako were disgustingly cute at times. Iroh was hoping their honeymoon phase would end soon, before he got a cavity from close association with them.

Mako was awake now and had wasted no time pulling Lu Ten into a deep kiss.

Iroh took that as his cue and left. “You kids have fun,” Iroh called out, as he left the room.

Iroh often found himself wandering off alone for a few hours every now and again, to give Lu Ten and Mako time for sex. Talking the two of them through that had been weird, but the two took to it like turtleducks to water, so Iroh supposed he did a good job explaining the ins and outs.

Iroh actually enjoyed these moments by himself. Being an introvert and constantly surrounded by two other people with little escape, had been hard on him over the years. He often wandered off even before Lu Ten and Mako started having sex, but now he knew they were occupied and unable to interrupt him.

Iroh found a nice patch of grass outside of the inn they were staying at, and quickly started stretching his muscles. Iroh hated to admit it, but he was getting older and the flexibility he easily enjoyed as a teenager or even a younger twenty-something, now came with a price. Namely, he had to stretch more often.

With his muscles nice and relaxed, Iroh started folding himself through his usual morning yoga routine. He preferred doing this without Mako or Lu Ten around. Mako didn’t get yoga and would usually try to distract Iroh, while Lu Ten tried and failed to mimic advanced moves his body wasn’t flexible enough to achieve.

They both thought he was being over dramatic about his slow loss of flexibility. Admittedly, Iroh could still bend himself into pretty impressive shapes, but it was deceptive to the viewer. Iroh hurt more than he used to if he didn’t stretch properly.

With his body loose and relaxed, Iroh laid out on the grass for a few moments before standing and making his way to the restaurant the three of them had agreed on as a meet up for breakfast.

Iroh was, unsurprisingly, the first there.

“Hey,” Mako said, a few minutes later as he plopped into the chair on Iroh’s right. Lu Ten sat more carefully into the chair on his left. “We would have been here sooner, but after we, uh, finished, Lu Ten wanted to gather up our stuff so we can leave as soon as we finish eating.”

“That’s fine,” Iroh said. He waited a moment, hopeful that for once they wouldn’t overshare.

“So, anyway,” Lu Ten said, awkwardly, “Mako and I had sex. I was originally just in it for a blowjob but, Mako got a bit too frisky.”

There it was. 

Iroh didn’t know why they kept feeling the need to share things like that. Iroh didn’t really need to know the details of their sex life but they kept telling him anyway. 

“Yeah, about that,” Iroh said, slightly exasperated, “why do you two feel the need to tell me every time you have sex? Is this some weird sex proposal or something because honestly, I’m confused?”

“We just thought you might want to know,” Lu Ten said, with a shrug.

“Yeah,” Mako added, “we figured, being in a relationship and all, you would want to be kept in the loop. Not that we don’t want to have sex with you, but that wasn’t our intention.”

“Mako, a little more discretion!” Lu Ten hissed before turning to Iroh slowly. “We were going to bring that up later, in private. Just an open invitation, if you ever wanted, no pressure.”

Sometimes, Mako and Lu Ten made Iroh want to bang his head against a wall, other times they just did something so nice, Iroh couldn’t process it without feeling overwhelmed, and then there were times where the two of them sent him reeling back towards memories better left hidden. Somehow, they managed to do all three of those things at once.

Iroh sighed. “Okay, all that aside, for later. I appreciate your honesty, but part of being in a semi-open relationship, is that you don’t have to tell me,” Iroh said. “I already know you two had sex. I was there when it was initiated. There isn’t a need to hash out the details, unless you two really want to.”

They were both idiots but Iroh couldn’t help but be fond of the thought behind the odd gesture.

The part that sent him spiraling though, was the idea of joining them in bed. While he had no issue continuing on with the platonic relationship dynamics they already had between them, sex often times changed things, sometimes for the worst.

Iroh wasn’t a stranger to joining couples in bed, and that was the problem. The last time he had done it, Iroh had ended up in a very bad relationship. He trusted Lu Ten and Mako, he really did but those wounds from his last relationship ran deep and he didn’t want to fall short of expectations, or to be drawn into a relationship dynamic he didn’t want, by saying yes.

“As for the other thing,” Iroh said, cautiously, “I’ll think about it.”

It wasn’t a lie, Iroh would think about it. It also wasn’t the truth, Iroh would actually be running all the reasons he shouldn’t do it through his head.

The look Lu Ten gave him, told him the other man knew he was lying. Lu Ten had gotten really good at figuring out when Iroh was lying or not.

Mako continued eating, seemingly oblivious. 

They finished up their breakfast and made their way outside.

“Seriously, Ro,” Mako said, grabbing Iroh’s arm, “no conditions or extra expectations. It’s just us, as we always are, but naked.”

Iroh realized he was wrong about Mako. Mako hadn’t been oblivious, he had just been keeping quiet about it.

Lu Ten dropped a kiss on the tops of both their heads. “We love you, Iroh,” Lu Ten said, stressing his real name. “We don’t want you to be uncomfortable, we just agreed that should you want to, we would be more than agreeable to have you join us. We know you don’t do romance and dating and stuff like that. It would just be sex with people you’re, hopefully, close to.”

Iroh wished his trust hadn’t been broken, so that he could believe Lu Ten.

They gathered up their stuff, before heading out. Their destination was a village on the other side of Omashu, one that bordered the Si Wong Desert. Lu Ten was excited, as this would be the first time, he had ever actually seen the desert. Mako and Iroh were a bit more subdued, having tried to avoid said desert for four plus years at this point.

It was bad enough Lu Ten had dragged them into the swamp a year or so ago, they really didn’t want to get stuck in the desert because Lu Ten got an idea.

The fact remined though, that several weeks prior the City of Omashu had fallen and Sha village on the far side, towards the desert, would prove to be the best evacuation route for the citizens of Omashu, should they wish to leave.

Iroh had been slightly disheartened to watch the city fall, even though he knew it was one of the things they couldn’t change, without a serious ripple effect. Even if they wanted to save it, it would have been a fruitless endeavor, the King had surrendered immediately and there had been an entire military campaign waiting outside.

He had the wildest realization that his Grandmother Mai, must already be in the city.

Iroh was knocked from his musings by music drifting through the air. There were no lyrics to accompany the strumming but there was a soft humming.

The three rounded the corner of the path they were walking, to find a group of five people drifting around in front of them. They weren’t really walking the path so much as dancing along it.

“Hey, dragon people!” The man with the instrument called. “Want some bread?”

Iroh was slightly thrown off by that question, and the man’s entire demeanor.

“What kind of bread?” Mako asked, seemingly not concerned that a stranger was offering him food.

“Bread,” the woman in brown said. The man pulled the bread out of his shirt, that also seemed to function as a bag.

“Um,” Mako said, suddenly disinterested, “I’ll pass.”

“Where are you headed?” Lu Ten asked, a smile barely visible from under his mask. Iroh sighed, already knowing that something about these travelers amused Lu Ten, which meant they would travel with them if their destinations were the same.

“Nowhere, brother,” the man said.

“We just travel where ever the wind takes us,” said the shorter of the other two men.

“Well, we are headed out past Omashu,” Mako said, grabbing Lu Ten’s shoulder and trying to drag him off, “so we will see you guys later.”

“Such confidence,” the younger woman said. “How do you know you’ll see us again?”

“You guys can come with us if you want,” Lu Ten offered, before Mako could stop him.

“Alright,” the man said, strumming his instrument, “detour!”

If Iroh didn’t love Lu Ten so much, he would kill him for this. The nomads, who introduced themselves as Chong, Lily, Moku, Wara and Mu, did not stop playing music the whole time they were walking with them.

Iroh had to admit that Chong wasn’t that bad of a singer, and by the time he started in on “Traveling Girl”, Iroh was dancing in a circle with Wara, to the amusement of his friends.

He didn’t even notice how close they were to Omashu, until they broke through into a clearing along the river leading to the city.

“Hey, river people,” Chong said, stopping the song. Wara came to a halt to look at the supposed river people, and Iroh followed her line of sight.

He felt a slight panic as he realized who these people were.

“We’re not river people,” Katara said.

This wasn’t good. They would have to be very careful here. He wasn’t expecting to run into them so soon.

Iroh moved over to Mako and Lu Ten carefully, hoping the oddity of the nomads would keep the kids’ attention away from them.

“That’s the Avatar,” Iroh whispered in Lu Ten’s ear. He gestured towards Aang who was currently laughing at something Moku said. Lu Ten followed the gestured and stared.

Iroh had to knock Lu Ten’s shoulder to get him to stop.

“Sorry,” Lu Ten whispered. 

“Who are your friends,” Katara asked, gesturing over towards them, as her and Aang settled down with Appa on the riverbank. They appeared to be settling in for a while, as Wara had already started trying to braid flowers into Appa’s fur.

Moku laughed. “We never asked,” Moku answered.

Iroh traded a glance with Lu Ten and Mako. The other two didn’t seem to know what to do in this situation either.

“Um,” Iroh said, “We’re the Sons of Agni, we usually just answer to colors, unless were talking to people who already know our names.”

Katara gave him an odd look.

“Rozin?” she asked. Iroh did a double take.

“Yes?” Iroh responded, hesitantly.

“As in the Rozin, Bato told us about,” Sokka said, coming up behind his sister. “The Blue Dragon, right?”

“Maybe,” Iroh answered, as he silently cursed Bato. “Why?”

Katara’s face lit up in excitement. “Bato said you’d teach me waterbending if I ever came across you!” She exclaimed, running up to him.

Mako and Lu Ten just laughed at his misfortune.

“I’ve already learned from Master Pakku from the Northern Water Tribe, but Bato said you were a Southern Water Tribe waterbending Master,” Katara continued. “Please, teach me. I want to be able to bend like our people used too.”

Iroh wouldn’t call himself a master, but he couldn’t say no, not while his grandmother, albeit younger than he last saw her, stood pleading in front of him. This wasn’t the best time though. They couldn’t afford to travel with the Avatar right now. They would change far too much.

Mako and Lu Ten didn’t seem too bothered by Iroh’s predicament and settled in next to the sky bison, Lu Ten more hesitantly than Mako. Even his Great Uncle Sokka didn’t seem to want to break apart the spontaneous get together, at least for now.

“You’re fine,” Aang assured Lu Ten, who was still skittishly approaching Appa. “Appa wouldn’t hurt a fly, would you buddy?”

Appa let out a load groan, that Aang took as an affirmation, while Lu Ten startled.

“Sure,” Iroh said, finally answering his grandmother. He looked around himself for some sort of inspiration on what to teach her, when an idea came to him. It would be slightly cruel but it was technically the first less any Southern waterbender needed to learn.

“First things, first,” Iroh said with a smile, aware that Aang had also joined the impromptu lesson. “A quiz.”

Aang groaned while Katara tilted her head to the side in question.

Iroh heard Lu Ten mutter, “No way,” from the sidelines and smiled knowing Lu Ten had figured out where that habit of Iroh’s came from.

“Just two simple questions that a Southern waterbender must know,” Iroh said, pulling on Rozin's memories, “trust me my grandmother put me through the same torment. Until you know the answers, the philosophy of Southern Style bending will be tricky to pick up on.”

“So, first things first,” Iroh said, “Fine me some water.”

“Uh,” Aang said, as he and Katara both turned to the river and back to Iroh as if he had lost his mind.

Sokka, Mako and Lu Ten were also watching him in confusion, while the nomads continued on with their business, which seemed to be tying flowers in people’s hair. Lily was eyeing Lu Ten’s long hair with determination.

“Not that water,” Iroh said, “a different source.”

“What kind of game are you playing?” Sokka asked. “What do you mean a different source?”

He seemed offended on his sister’s behalf, that Iroh didn’t seem to be taking this training seriously. The fact was, as much as he didn’t want to dive too deeply into training right now, Iroh wasn’t playing at all.

“Sokka!” Katara yelled. “He didn’t mean that, please, can you explain what you mean, Master Rozin.”

Iroh’s nose wrinkled, as Mako and Lu Ten laughed.

“You don’t have to call me that,” Iroh said. “As for what I meant, a big part of the Southern Water Tribe culture is built on the travels our people experienced on the way from the North. I’m sure you’ve noticed as you’ve traveled, that there isn’t always water around you, at least not in the most obvious locations. We are in a dry and semi-barren area. Many would say there is no water here, outside of that river, but they would be wrong. Find it.”

Aang looked around him, as if the answer would be obvious and found within the area immediately surrounding him, while Katara stared off into space, her brow furrowed.

“Oh,” Aang exclaimed. “What about spit?”

Iroh wrinkled his nose again. “Not wrong, but maybe only when you’re truly desperate. Your body needs its fluids to stay hydrated, so using sweat or spit can dehydrate you quickly. What else?”

Aang groaned and gave up, sitting over by Appa and the rest of the group. Wara dropped a flower crown on his head, before resuming her braiding of Appa’s fur. Lu Ten’s braid was now sporting a large collection of flowers and even Mako had one tucked behind his ear as he snuggled into Lu Ten’s side. Momo seemed to have taken a shine to Mako, as he was sat in his lap, demanding attention, or maybe food.

Katara refused to give up and continued looking around her for inspiration.

“Oh,” she finally said, “Aang and I once bent clouds together! Clouds have water!”

“They do,” Iroh said, “the fact is Katara, most things around you have water. Which is an important lesson to keep in mind. I’ll teach you more about that later, but first I need you to answer my second question: What is the difference between the four nations and their bending styles?”

Katara’s eyes widened as she looked at him. “But that could take forever to list,” Katara answered.

“Will it?” Iroh asked, tilting his head.

“Yes,” Katara explained, “there are so many differences between cultural differences, and bending forms and foods and music!”

“I suppose,” Iroh said, “let me re-word the question then, what causes these differences?”

That question gave Katara pause and she stood across from him for a while as she rolled the idea around her head.

“Can we at least sit down while you think?” Iroh asked gesturing towards the bison. Katara allowed Iroh to motion her over to the rest of the group and Lily, no longer distracted by Lu Ten’s hair, quickly grabbed at Iroh’s own. Iroh let her, content to wait out Karata’s answer.

Iroh knew the question was tricky. When traveling around the world, it quickly became apparent that culture was a human construct, and the divides of the world were not a stark as people are led to believe. It was something quickly learned by the Southern Water Tribe, particularly their waterbenders. The fact was, that everyone could learn something from looking at the world through the lens of another nation. 

“You don’t have to come up with an answer now,” Iroh said. “I promised to teach you, whether that’s now or later, it’s something that will get done. The answer will come to you, and when it does, you’ll never forget it.”

Katara sighed. “I guess,” she said, as Lily, finally done with Iroh, moved on to her hair. She soon got caught up in the nomads’ travel stories with Aang.

Iroh sighed with relief. He would teach her later, but right now neither of them was ready. She would mull over the question, and when she had an answer, hopefully, they would be at a place where he could teach her long term.

“Hey, Sokka,” Aang yelled, as Sokka suddenly reappeared. Iroh hadn’t even noticed he left. “You should hear some of these stories. These guys have been everywhere!”

Chong, who had been strumming his instrument, stopped. “Well not everywhere, Little Arrowhead. But where we haven't been, we've heard about through stories and songs,” Chong explained.

“They said they'll take us to see a giant night crawler!” Aang said. Lu Ten seemed just as excited at the idea but Mako was already shaking his head.

“On the way,” Moku said, “there's a waterfall that creates a never-ending rainbow!”

Iroh watched Lu Ten tug on Mako’s arm and could tell Mako’s resistance was weakening. It did sound like a cool place to go.

Sokka’s resistance, on the other hand, wasn’t weakening at all. “Look, I hate to be the wet blanket here,” Sokka said, “but since Katara is busy, I guess it's up to me.”  
Katara glared at her brother.

“We need to get to Omashu,” Sokka said. Iroh’s stomach sank but he stayed silent, as much as he hated it, Aang’s group needed to go there. “No sidetracks, no worms and definitely no rainbows.”

“Wow,” Chong said, “sounds like someone has a case of destination fever. You're worried too much about where you're going.”

“You got to focus less on the where and more on the going,” Lily continued. 

“O-Ma-Shu!” Sokka said. Mako laughed.

“Sokka's right,” Katara said. “We need to find King Bumi, so Aang can learn earthbending somewhere safe.”

Iroh, Mako and Lu Ten kept their mouths shut. Technically, Aang could find teachers for all three elements right here, but it wasn’t their place. Those jobs were already filled. Maybe later they could help broaden Aang’s skills but for now, the past was best left on the path it was already headed down.

“Sounds like you're headed to Omashu,” Chong said, as Sokka facepalmed. “There's an old story about a secret pass right through the mountains.”

“Is this real or a legend?” Katara asked.

“Real,” Mako said. “It’s real.”

“A real legend,” Chong added, “and it's as old as earthbending itself.”

Iroh shook his head as Chong broke out into the oddest version of “Secret Tunnel” he had ever heard. The other nomads started dancing around them and Mako joined in, softly under his breath, with Chong’s song up until he went off track.

Sokka seemed unamused. “I think we'll just stick with flying. We've dealt with the Fire Nation before. We'll be fine,” he said.

“Yeah, thanks for the help, but Appa hates going underground,” Aang said, smiling at the other two groups, “and we need to do whatever makes Appa most comfortable.”

Katara hugged Iroh before they left. “Thank you,” she said, “even though I didn’t learn what you were trying to teach me.”

“You’ll get it and when you do, I’ll teach you more, when we see each other again,” Iroh promised, before she ran off to get on Appa.

The nomads seemed content to rest at the riverside for a while, and in all honesty, they weren’t in much a rush themselves, so they joined them. 

Lu Ten was rubbing at his leg in a way he did when the months old injury, from General Fong’s men, started hurting him. Iroh hated that he hadn’t been able to heal the injury fully, but between how much damage had been caused, the infection he had to clean out and the damage Lu Ten caused by running on it, there really was only so much Iroh could do. His healing ability sadly didn’t allow for re-growing skin and muscle that wasn’t there.

Lu Ten was still learning to navigate with his new limp and limited foot mobility. It was also unnerving for Iroh and Mako to bump against Lu Ten’s leg by accident and find a groove there. Still, Iroh was proud of how well Lu Ten was adjusting.

Iroh let them rest, knowing if he pushed Lu Ten, he would continue walking, even in pain, just to prove he could. Right as Iroh was about to corral his friends up and onward, Appa landed and the three kids trudged by.

They were all a bit crispy and looking worse for wear.

“Secret love cave,” Sokka said, without stopping, “let’s go.”

“We actually need to go around,” Mako said, “Omashu isn’t our destination.”

“I don’t know,” Iroh replied, running their location through his head, “even if we aren’t going to Omashu, this would technically be the shortest way.”

“I want to see the secrete love tunnel,” Lu Ten said. “Please? It sounds cool.”

“Fine,” Mako said, caving.

They ended up following the other two groups to the mountain side. Iroh couldn’t help but laugh at Sokka’s misfortune of finding out about the labyrinth of tunnels and supposed curse, at the last minute.

“Don’t worry about it,” Iroh said, patting his Great Uncle on the shoulder, “there isn’t a curse.”

“Yeah, there is,” Chong argued. “The curse says that only those who trust in love can make it through the caves. Otherwise, you'll be trapped in them forever.”

“And die,” Lily imputed.

“Oh yeah, and die,” Chong echoed, before brightening, “Hey, I just remembered the rest of that song!”

Chong strummed his instrument before singing, “And die!” in an ominous tone. That wasn’t the only lyric he had missed but Iroh decided to let him have his victory.

“That's it! There's no way we're going through some cursed hole!” Sokka yelled.

“It’s not cursed,” Iroh repeated. “It’s just a puzzle, set up in a way that can only be solved by trusting in the power of love. It’s not a curse, it’s a riddle. If you solve it you get out, if you don’t, you well, die.”

“Hey, someone's making a big campfire!” Moku said. Iroh turned into the direction he pointed.

“That's no campfire, Moku,” Katara said. 

“Fire Nation,” Lu Ten muttered, at the same time Sokka said, “It's the Fire Nation. They're tracking us.”

“So, all you need to do is trust in love to get through these caves?” Aang asked. 

“Caves?” Lu Ten asked in concern, turning towards Aang. He was ignored, though Iroh wondered what his issue was.

“That is correct, Master Arrowhead,” Chong said. 

“You kind of need to know what that means first,” Iroh tried to explain, but his grandfather was being useless, staring off at Katara. Gross. 

“We can make it,” Aang said. If Iroh didn’t know how this story panned out, he would have highly doubted that. How did his grandfather even survive this war, being this lovesick?

“Everyone into the hole!” Sokka shouted.

It took some time but eventually everyone was gathered in the hole, just in time for the Fire Nation to cave them in.

“This was a bad idea,” Lu Ten said, shaking. “Oh, I should have thought of this.”

Lu Ten’s breaths were coming in short and Iroh realized that taking the man, who had nearly been killed twice by the earth, underground wasn’t their best idea.

A bright light flashed in Iroh’s periphery, causing him to flinch and instinctively hold his hand up, but it was just Lily lighting torches.

“It doesn't work like that, if they're all lit at the same time!” Sokka yelled, stamping out the torches.

Iroh turned back to Lu Ten as Lily said, “Oh, right.”

“Lu,” Iroh said, quietly, “Breathe, Mako’s with us, we won’t let anything happen to you. We’ve saved you both times before and if need be, we will again.”

Lu Ten nodded, but Iroh could still feel him shaking slightly. Mako came over and rubbed up and down Lu Ten’s back. “It will be okay, babe,” Mako said. “I promise.”

The group started walking. Iroh and Mako, bracketed Lu Ten between them and followed.

They were walking in circles, which really wasn’t helping Lu Ten’s panic.

“Sokka, this is the tenth dead end you've led us to,” Katara said. 

“This doesn't make sense,” Sokka said. “We already came through this way.”

“We don't need a map,” Chong replied, “We just need love. The little guy knows it.”

“Yeah, but I wouldn't mind a map also,” Aang replied.

“I just want whatever will get us out of here quickest,” Iroh said. Lu Ten was starting to look ill. Iroh really hated that he never got the full story of these stupid tunnels out of his grandmother. 

Mako stood up straight. Iroh turned to him, wondering what had him so keyed up.

“The tunnels are changing,” Mako said. “I can feel them.”

“You’re an earthbender,” Sokka yelled. “This whole time, you could have just moved the walls!”

“I forgot, Haru told us that,” Katara said. Iroh had a vague recollection as to who Haru was, but he wasn’t sure why Haru would be telling them about Mako.

“Not really,” Mako replied, with a shrug.

“Why?” Aang asked.

“The tunnel system down here is delicate,” Mako said. “If you make one tunnel, you need to fill another in. These are modeled after badgermole tunnels. They fill in non-essential tunnels as they go. I can’t move these on my own, that’s the point of them and the reason even earthbenders die down here. Trying to would cause a-”  
Mako was cut off as the tunnels started shaking.

“That,” Mako shouted. 

“The tunnels,” Chong said, “they're a-changin'. It must be the curse! I knew we shouldn't have come down here!”

“Right, if only we listened to you,” Sokka said, as Lu Ten’s stomach finally gave up.

Lu Ten didn’t have anything in his stomach, so he ended up dry-heaving until he spit out a small bit of bile.

“Everyone be quiet. Listen.” Katara demanded.

The only thing Iroh could hear was Lu Ten’s continued heaving. Mako was holding Lu Ten’s hair up and rubbing his back. Iroh was starting to get pissed at this whole situation.

Something flew out of one of the tunnels, and absolute chaos took over the groups. Someone screamed, Sokka tried to fight off whatever was attacking them, then Appa started bucking and slamming into the walls of the cave.

“Move,” Mako said, pushing Iroh and Lu Ten out of the way, just in time for rocks to slam to the ground where they had just been standing. Lu Ten was shaking as he moved over to Mako’s prone form.

“No, no, no,” Lu Ten said, turning Mako over and removing his mask. Iroh reached down to check him, having to awkwardly hold their torch as he did. His vitals were fine, he was just out cold.

Iroh noticed most of the rocks had landed around Mako. He must had redirected them before finally getting hit.

“Mako,” Lu Ten said, his voice breaking. “Mako wake up.”

Iroh pulled Lu Ten close. “He’s fine, Lu,” Iroh said, petting Lu Ten’s hair, “Just let him wake up and we can get out of here.”

“How?” Lu Ten demanded, hysterically. As if in answer to his question, crystals lit up the surrounding area.

“Oma,” Mako muttered, still deeply asleep.

Iroh felt his heart rate pick up, that was the fourth time a spirit had interfered with them.

“What?” Lu Ten asked, but Mako didn’t answer.

Iroh realized they, in the excitement of Lu Ten’s second kidnapping and near death, had forgotten to tell Lu Ten about the spirit visions. They would have to tell him soon.

For now, they would just have to wait for Mako to wake up. 

He certainly took his time about it. Their torch had gone out naturally, and Lu Ten had fallen asleep, his body too stressed to stay awake, by the time Mako woke up.

“I feel like shit,” Mako said, rubbing his head.

“I believe you,” Iroh replied, shaking Lu Ten awake.

Lu Ten jerked up but relaxed upon realizing Mako was awake. Mako nearly fell backwards at the force of Lu Ten’s hug.

“I thought you were dead,” Lu Ten said. Mako rubbed his back.

“Takes more than that to keep me down,” Mako said, standing and helping Lu Ten up.

The three followed the crystals out of the cavern only to spot the other two groups already there. The nomads seemed content to continue their random travels, waving goodbye to them without a word.

“So,” Aang said to the three men, “are you three sure you don’t want to join us?”

“We can’t,” Iroh replied. “At least not now, we have somewhere else to be but someday, I promise.”

Iroh turned to Katara, “And you, remember your homework and get back to me with an answer, yeah?”

“Yes, Master Rozin,” Katara replied.

“Seriously,” Iroh said, “don’t call me that.”

Katara laughed as the two groups waved goodbye and went their separate ways.

“I hate that we didn’t tell them,” Lu Ten said.

“I know,” Iroh replied. “I do too.”

“Lu Ten,” Mako said. He sounded spaced-out. “There’s something Iroh and I need to tell you before we forget.”

“Oh?” Lu Ten asked.

Mako traded a look with Iroh. Iroh nodded.

“We’ve been having spirit visions,” Mako said. Lu Ten didn’t look too pleased with that news.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These first six chapters are being a pain in my butt.


	2. Warped Mirror - Mako

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After their encounter with the GAang, the three run into a slightly more rebellious group of kids.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Two background characters have an abusive homelife, war children

Mako wasn’t sure what he had been expecting with the whole tunnel thing. It was stupid of them in two parts. Forgetting that Lu Ten had combat neurosis about being underground was stupid. Walking into the cave that belonged to the spirit supposedly talking to him in his dreams, had been even stupider.

When he was knocked in the head by a rock, he hadn’t expected to wake up across from Oma in the Royal Palace of Omashu. 

“Lu Ten,” Mako shouted, sitting up straight. Oma only seemed to come to him when Lu Ten, or occasionally Iroh, was in danger.

“Is fine,” Oma assured, “I turned on the lights for your friends.”

“Oma,” Mako said, giving her an awkward nod. “Why are we in Omashu?”

“I figured after so long wandering through the caverns Shu and I made, you would like a change of scenery from where we usually meet,” Oma said.

“Why’d you bring me here?” Mako asked.

Oma smiled at him. “You were the one who came to me this time,” Oma replied. “I figured I would use this time, where I am at my strongest, to clue you in on a few things. Agni is too dramatic to bother explaining anything without riddles and La is a spirit of action over words.” 

“I’m sure you and your friends have realized by now that your mission here in this world is a bit more than what Agni originally told you,” Oma said.

Mako made a face. They hadn’t spoken about it since Lu Ten’s kidnapping. Apparently, Oma could tell as she shook her head.

“You need to tell him,” Oma said, “You need to tell both of them what I’m about to explain to you. The spirit world is disconnected from time, as such we exist in all dimensions as we please. Our stories may be different, but our existence isn’t. Whether I am the founder of Omashu who obtain a spirit status upon death, my true history, or known as the spirit of the earth who had existed since the beginning, does not matter, every world knows my name.”

“Spirits,” she explained, “live through the life forces on this planet, whether it be through the forests they preside over, the fears that haunt human’s nightmares, the promises they make or even just the worshipers they have, spirits are connected to the worlds around them. Our main connection is with the main dimension, where all our stories center, but should we disappear from there, we can still hold onto our life through other worlds.”

“In recent years some spirits have begun to fade from the main timeline, which weakens us and the spirit world as a whole,” Oma continued. “Tui was the first, and sadly has suffered in this time as well. Tui hung on as a scrap of existence thanks to the brave young Princess Yue of the Northern Water Tribe, he lives in other dimensions these days. The Painted Lady was nearly the second, her power source having been polluted. She was only saved by her people’s belief in her and the actions of a kind young waterbender.”

“Modernization in the main dimension, while not a problem in itself,” Oma said, softly, “has brought with it a lack of belief and respect towards the spirits, and has left us drained and vulnerable. The Spirit World has become a very unstable place due to Kuvira’s actions. We are hoping, with your help, to use this dimension, so closely tied to the original, to stabilize the spirit world and preserve our existence. We understand, if you do not wish to take on such a challenge, but that is why we chose you, to preserve the spirituality of this world even as it enters the modern age. Innovation and spirituality existing side by side.”

Oma smiled softly at Mako. “You have free-will, Mako,” she said. “I know your friend, Iroh, thinks otherwise but you do. If you do not wish to be our champions, just say so and we will think of something else, but if you do this for us, there will be interesting surprises in your future.”

Mako swallowed hard. “I can’t answer that now,” he replied, “not without talking to my friends about it first.”

“I understand,” Oma said. “Wake up Mako, it is time for you to leave.”

Oma’s voice faded and Mako woke up to a throbbing pain from the back of his head.

“I feel like shit,” Mako said, rubbing his head.

“I believe you,” Iroh quipped back.

Before Mako could really gather his bearings, Lu Ten was suddenly halfway in his lap. Mako wrapped his arms around his boyfriend even as they went rocking backwards under the force.

“I thought you were dead,” Lu Ten said. 

Mako’s heart broke to hear Lu Ten so upset. He knew how much that hurt from experience.

“Takes more than that to keep me down,” Mako said, kissing the side of Lu Ten’s head and helping his boyfriend up from the floor.

From there, they made their way out of the caves and after a rather awkward goodbye to the other two groups they had been traveling with, they started in towards their original destination.

“Lu Ten,” Mako said, reaching out for his hand. “There’s something Iroh and I need to tell you before we forget.”

“Oh?” Lu Ten asked.

Mako looked to Iroh and seeing nothing but approval on his face, turned back to Lu Ten.

“We’ve been having spirit visions,” Mako said. 

Lu Ten hummed. Mako hated when he did that, because it usually meant he was upset by something.

“I had a vision of La,” Iroh explained. “Back when Zhao knocked me into the river. I didn’t say anything at first because I just thought it was a normal, if slightly odd, dream. Then I was talking to Mako when you were being kidnapped by those Earth Kingdom solders and he’s been having them too. That was why he said Oma’s name in the caves, he was having another vision.”

“Do you remember how we told you Agni had an interest in you, when we first told you about the time travel thing?” Mako asked.

Lu Ten pursed his lips, another thing he did when mad, but nodded.

“Oma told me why,” Mako said. “She actually told me the why, of all of it. The Spirit World was really damaged in our time and the spirits want us to fix this world so they can use it as a crutch or something for our old timeline. Oma has chosen me to help her with this, La chose Iroh and well, Agni picked you.”

Mako turned to Iroh. “Oma said we could choose, whether or not we wished to help, but I haven’t answered her yet,” Mako said.

Mako wasn’t expecting an answer from either of them, which was good, as neither of them answered him. Iroh stared out over the mountains with his jaw clinched and his eyes squinted against the sun. Lu Ten was back to humming as he glared down at the ground.

“I don’t like it,” Lu Ten finally said, “but I’ll think about it.”

Iroh just shrugged when Mako turned to him.

Fair enough, Mako wasn’t sure what to make of it all himself.

They continued on towards the town outside of Omashu and spent the next day building up a small, but stable refugee route for those evacuating. Very few people came through, but when they did, they came with odd dot marks on their faces. At first the village was concerned of a new plague but Iroh just laughed.

“It’s pentapox,” Iroh explained. “Not very contagious unless someone attaches a pentapus, to your face.”

“How’d you know?” one of the refuges asked.

“I’ve seen it before, used it to get out of school once by pretending to be ill. My mother was not impressed with me that day,” Iroh explained. “It’s a good thing the Fire Nation hasn’t seen it.”

Mako could barely see his eyes crinkling at the corners through his mask. Mako wondered how long those wrinkles had been on his face, before realizing Iroh had turned thirty last June. They had mocked him for it and everything, but he was just now realizing what that meant. In two years, Mako himself would be thirty, he was getting old.

Once the few people bothering to leave Omashu, apparently most of them were staying outside the city, were on their way to Ba Sing Se, the three men left.

The area of the Earth Kingdom they went to next, wasn’t Fire Nation friendly, as the Fire Nation had recently started campaigning there, so Lu Ten dressed in Water Tribe clothing. 

Before they used to dress him as an Earth Kingdom refugee, but Iroh and him were confused as siblings too often for them not to take advantage. If Iroh and Lu Ten were war children of Water Tribe and Fire Nation heritage, then one dressing Water Tribe and the other Earth Kingdom became slightly suspicious. Which was why Lu Ten’s hair was only part way up, rather than its usual braid.

Mako liked it when his hair was down.

Trouble started almost immediately, as Fire Nation troops were hovering outside of the village, though they didn’t appear to be attacking it.

They held back and took off their masks, not wanting to be instigators, but continued watching them as they made their way towards the town bar. Town bars, or restaurants, were the best places to go for information as, typically, everyone gathered there for gossip.

“What’s up with the Reds outside the town?” Mako asked, using the Earth Kingdom slang term for Fire Nation soldiers.

“Don’t know for sure,” the barkeep said, his accent thick, “but rumor says a buncha kids from Gaipan came through here. Fire Nation’s been huntin’ ‘em since they blew up a dam and flooded their southernmost colony. We haven’t seen any kids though, so we’re not real sure why they’re here.”

“Huh,” Mako said. “That sounds a bit wild to be true.”

“See,” the barkeep said, taping Mako on the shoulder. “I told ya, Kai, ain’t no way that’s true.”

A man, probably Kai, across the bar made a rude gesture towards Mako and the barkeep.

Mako shook his head as the barkeep laughed and ordered a drink for him and his friends. They didn’t stay in the bar long, having just gone to gather intel.

They decided to stay, just to make sure the Fire Nation didn’t cause any trouble.

Lu Ten and Mako waited outside as Iroh went and got them a room at the local inn. People usually found it odd when three men asked for a single double bed so they had learned to only send one in to ask.

Had Mako not reached to place his arm around Lu Ten’s waist, he might have missed it, and they would have been down a fair bit of money. Instead, his arm hit a hand that shouldn’t be that close to his boyfriend’s hip.

Mako looked down into the face of a startled child. The child took off down the street, Mako quickly following. He knows he left Lu Ten standing in the road but he wanted to make sure the kid was okay. Mako knew kids that age didn’t usually steal unless they needed to.

“Hey, kid,” Mako called into the alley, he chased the kid towards. “I’m not going to hurt you,” he said, making sure to not block the alleyway exit. “I grew up on the streets myself, I just want to make sure you’re okay.”

A small kid no older than seven wandered out of the alley. At first Mako thought the kid was scared, and maybe he was, but then he kicked Mako in the shin.

“Ow,” Mako shouted. “I’m just trying to help!”

“We don’t need help,” the kid yelled.

“We?” Mako asked. “Are there more of you? Do you guys need food? Are you all kids?”

Mako knew about living in a group of kids on the street, unless they were kind or extremely well supplied, someone as small as this kid wasn’t getting food.

“Please,” Mako said. “Let me help. I know what it’s like.”

“Do you?” came an older male voice from behind him.

Mako turned to find an older teenager standing behind him with two hooked swords pulled out.

“Do you know what it’s like to grow up without your parents on the streets because a firebender killed them?” The teen asked, stepping towards Mako. His stance was aggressive but also mostly showmanship. Mako recognized it.

“Actually,” Mako said, “yeah, that’s pretty much exactly what happened to me when I was eight.”

Mako was suddenly hit by a memory, both his own and yet different, of his parents being killed when he was eight, the same age as in his real life. Mako wasn’t quite sure what had happened, before then his fake life had lost his parents at sixteen but Mako’s fake memories just changed, as if Mako had spoken the new memories into existence. Pausing to check he realized it did shift his fake memories a fair bit. Spirits were odd.

The teenager put his swords up. “My names, Jet,” he said, “and that’s The Duke. We’re the Freedom Fighters. If you’re serious about helping us, I can take you back to our new hideout.”

“How about I give you this,” Mako said, handing over a pouch of coins, “and meet you here tomorrow. My friends and I are kind of freedom fighters ourselves, and might be able to help. Are you those kids the Fire Nation is looking for?”

“Maybe,” Jet replied, grabbing the bag. “Why?”

“Just wondering how much help you need,” Mako said, “see you tomorrow kid.”

“I’m not a kid,” Jet muttered, “I haven’t been in a long time.”

“I know,” Mako said, softly, walking away.

He made his way back towards the inn, only to find a worried Lu Ten talking to a confused Iroh.

“Hey,” Mako said, coming up to his friends. “Sorry I ran off like that. I just recognized the behavior and wanted to see if that kid was okay.”

“That’s find,” Lu Ten said, grabbing Mako’s hand in a grip that said it wasn’t actually fine. “I was just worried.”

“Sorry,” Mako said, again, this time planting a kiss on Lu Ten’s lips. He kissed him again for good measure and a third time to make him smile. It worked.

Lu Ten smiled softly down at Mako before tugging on their hands, to follow Iroh towards their room.

There were two double beds, which threw Mako for a loop. Lu Ten also seemed surprised.

Iroh noticed their confusion. “I just, need a bit of space,” Iroh said, not looking at them.

Mako was a bit disappointed, mostly because he loved waking up squished between the other two men. Mako had never considered himself a cuddler, but after sleeping between Iroh and Lu Ten once, Mako was slightly addicted to the feeling.

Mako couldn’t help but wonder just what was bothering Iroh. He desperately hoped it wasn’t their offer from a few days ago. Iroh had still yet to answer them.  
“So was the kid okay?” Iroh asked, abruptly changing the subject.

“Uh, yeah,” Mako said, “sort of, he wasn’t alone but apparently the group of kids he’s with have found a bit of trouble with the Fire Nation. I told them we would try to help them out if possible.”

Lu Ten paused from pulling Flameo out of his bag. “You mean the kids that have the Fire Nation posted outside this village? The kids that supposedly blew up a dam and tried to flood a town with civilians in it? Those kids?” Lu Ten asked. “Should we be helping them?”

Mako turned his head towards Lu Ten in surprised. “What do you mean should we be helping them? They’re in trouble with the Fire Nation! We help people like that,” Mako said.

“I don’t know,” Lu Ten said, placing Flameo down on the bed, “these kids seem like they’re dangerous and could get us caught. They supposedly attacked a town with civilians in it just to run out the Fire Nation, with little regard for the innocent lives that could have been lost.”

“Oh what,” Mako said, “and we haven’t killed people?”

“I mean, not civilians,” Iroh imputed. “There’s a difference between taking out innocent civilians, verses armed combatants and active military.”

“Mako,” Lu Ten said slowly, “didn’t you yell at me once for this exact thing when my actions nearly killed Ki Ha, back when we first visited the colonies? You two tore into me so badly I had a mental breakdown over it. Why are these kids suddenly different?”

“We don’t even know if they did anything, Lu,” Mako shouted. He didn’t like the way Lu Ten was talking like Mako was being unreasonable. Lu Ten just didn’t get it.

Lu Ten opened his mouth as if to say something else but Iroh interrupted. “Then let’s ask them,” Iroh said, simply.

“Alright,” Lu Ten agreed, “but we need to be careful.”

“Why because they’re street kids?” Mako asked, his face heating up. Iroh suddenly froze in place behind Lu Ten, his bath stuff in hand.

“Because they blew up a dam, Mako,” Lu Ten replied, looking upset.

“Supposedly,” Mako said, “you know I find it funny, that you usually give people the benefit of the doubt but now street kids are involved and they’re just guilty of whatever everyone says they’re guilty of. Why’s that Lu Ten?”

Mako knew he was being a slight ass but the way Lu Ten was handling this, was rubbing him the wrong way. Iroh wasn’t helping by slowly and subtly trying to back towards the door.

Lu Ten hummed in discontent. “I’m not wary of them because they’re street kids, I’m wary of them because an entire troop of Fire Nation soldiers are waiting outside this city for them,” Lu Ten said.

“Really,” Mako said, “are you sure it’s not because that one kid tried to steal your money?”

“Mako, what are you trying to say?” Lu Ten demanded. He stood up to his full height.

Iroh gave up on trying to sneak out the door and instead just made a run for it. He didn’t quite make it before everything blew up.

“I’m saying maybe you should put aside your oh so delicate, princely, sensibilities and look at this through the lens of the real world,” Mako said, his heart hurting. “Not everyone grew up with a silver spoon in their mouths and you have no clue what those kids have been through.”

“Yeah,” Lu Ten replied, “well maybe if you stopped projecting your childhood trauma on to these kids, you could look at this through the lens of someone with rationality.”

Lu Ten threw his bag onto the floor and marched from the room. The door slammed behind him as Iroh looked between Mako and the door, before finally making his way towards the communal bathrooms.

“Dick,” Mako yelled at the empty room before collapsing on his and Lu Ten’s bed. He didn’t mean that. Lu Ten wasn’t a dick, but Mako sure felt like one. Maybe he had been overly defensive but Lu Ten wasn’t being fair to these kids.

Mako felt like crying, something he rarely ever did. He wanted to rewind time and somehow word his frustrations without the fight, but he didn’t think he could. Lu Ten wasn’t right, he couldn’t be. Those kids weren’t dangerous, they were like him. Left behind in a world that didn’t care and finding a purpose in making it better.  
Maybe Lu Ten was right, maybe he was projecting, but that kid, Duke or whatever, had been so small and young. How could Mako possibly leave a kid like that behind for the Fire Nation to get ahold of?

Iroh had been right, they should have just left all of this until the next day when they could talk to Jet and his group, but Mako chose to pick a fight instead and now Lu Ten was mad at him.

Iroh cautiously made his way back into the room, cleaned off and dressed in sleep clothes.

“I’m not going to yell at you,” Mako huffed.

“Oh good,” Iroh replied, standing up straight, “because Lu Ten already told me to fuck off.”

Mako huffed. “He’s going to break up with me, isn’t he?” Mako asked.

“Uh,” Iroh replied, “probably not, most people try to work things out first. Why would you think that?”

“My relationships never make it past the first fight,” Mako replied.

“Mako, I say this with all the love in my heart but I have issues, and Lu Ten’s issues have issues, but you, your issues have issues with issues that have even more issues,” Iroh said. “It’s not reasonable to think your relationship is going to end after one, in the grand scheme of things, minor fight. You two have had nastier fights than this as friends, I think you’ll survive this one.”

Mako nodded, his tears finally falling from his eyes. 

He didn’t sleep. 

Lu Ten came back late at night, after Iroh had gone to bed. Mako could tell he didn’t sleep either. He must have heard that you shouldn’t go to sleep angry, too.   
Lu Ten didn’t seem concerned that Mako had commandeered Flameo for the night. He slipped his hand into Mako’s own. His other hand came over to trace the lines of the electrical burn.

“I’m still mad at you,” Lu Ten said. “What we said to each other wasn’t fair, and I’m sorry for what I said about you, but I stand by my opinion on those kids, and not for the reasoning you seem to think I have. I love you, Mako, please know I still love you.”

Lu Ten’s voice broke on the last word.

“I’m sorry too,” Mako whispered, “You maybe shouldn’t have said it but you were right, I am projecting. I just really want you to be wrong about those kids.”

Mako rolled over to face Lu Ten, his free hand reaching up to push hair out of his boyfriend’s face. “I love you, too,” Mako said.

He felt something settle at his back and warp an arm around his hip. “Iroh, what are you doing?” Mako asked.

“I was wrong, too,” Iroh said, relief in his voice. “I want to sleep with you two, tonight.”

“Sorry we stressed you out and put you in an odd position,” Lu Ten said.

“Nah,” Iroh replied. “Couples fight, and you two fighting isn’t new. It happens, I’m just glad you two made up, quickly.”

With their hurt feelings somewhat settled, and Mako squished between Iroh and Lu Ten, the three of them quickly fell asleep.

The next morning the three men were quiet, existing in an odd tentative peace. 

Mako went to pull on his mask but Iroh stopped him. “No masks,” Iroh said, “they know our faces, and until we can trust them, they can’t connect them to these masks.”

Mako made a face but dropped the mask back into his bag.

They made their way towards the alley Mako had first encountered Jet at and stood quietly, waiting for the Freedom Fighters.

A teenager with a bow and arrow on his back showed up, along with an androgynous looking kid. If Mako had to guess, he’d say the kid was a she, but he knew better than to guess like that.

“I’m Smellerbee,” the androgynous kid said, wasting no time. “Jet sent us to pick you up. We need to move fast. The Fire Nation took two girls last night.”

“Two of yours?” Iroh asked. He was watching Smellerbee closely as they followed them. His eyes were narrowed in thought.

“No, two girls from this town,” Smellerbee replied.

They reached a campground. The mess of makeshift tents, tables and chairs bringing back childhood memories of the few small child gangs he and his brother had fallen into. There were only five kids in the camp, including the two they came in with, Jet wasn’t in immediate sight.

“I realized,” Jet said, dropping from the trees behind them, “I never got your name the other day.”

“Mako, and these are Lu and Ro,” Mako said. He had jumped, as had Lu Ten. He must have managed to startle Iroh too, as he was staring at Jet with alarm on his face.  
“Nice to meet you,” Jet said. He seemed to be trying to clock weapons on them.

“Benders,” Mako told him. He didn’t mention the knives Iroh had, just in case Lu Ten was right about these kids.

Jet nodded. “Straight down to business then,” Jet said. “The Fire Nation took two girls last night and we have a plan for how to show them that’s not going to be tolerated here.”

“I thought we were helping you get away from the Fire Nation?” Lu Ten asked.

“No,” Jet replied, “we plan to stay, we just need to make the Fire Nation leave.”

“That won’t work,” Iroh said. “They will just come back with more numbers.”

“Not with our plan,” Jet said. “I don’t need much with you three, but if you three are earthbenders, then you can help us with the setup. We can handle the actual execution. We just need holes in the ground at strategic locations.”

“Oh, Ro and Lu aren’t earthbenders, Ro’s a waterbender and Lu’s -” Mako was cut off as Iroh kicked him in the leg.

“A non-bender,” Iroh continued, roughing up Lu Ten’s hair as if messing with a younger brother, rather than taking over Mako. “My brother’s just very good at fighting, so he doesn’t carry a weapon on him.”

Jet looked closer at Iroh, his eyes narrowing in on the waterskin at Iroh’s hip. Mako wondered what that was about.

“Then we really only need Mako’s help,” Jet said, “but your friends would be good fighters to have around. For now, they can go with you, to guard, while you make those holes.”

Mako nodded, taking a map Jet handed him. Iroh was quick to leave the camp, Lu Ten rushing out behind him. Mako followed at a more sedated pace, not missing the suspicious look Jet shot towards the other two men.

“Give me that,” Iroh said, snatching the map from Mako. “Lu burn this. We’re leaving, now.”

“Whoa, wait,” Mako said, snatching the map from Lu Ten, who surprisingly hadn’t burned it, “Why?”

“That’s Jet, Mako,” Iroh explained, as if Mako didn’t know the kid’s name. “He’s not good news. Those rumors are true. Those kids did flood that town, my Great Uncle Sokka saved the civilians by warning them that Jet was going to blow up the damn. He later tried to get my grandfather, Zuko, and Lu Ten’s father, arrested by the Dai Li. He hates Fire Nation and firebenders, no matter where they come from. If he knew of our heritage, or Lu Ten’s ability, he wouldn’t hesitate to kill us, too.”

Mako shook his head, his heart dropping. “No,” Mako said, his voice sounding weak even to himself, “that can’t be right.”

“The Duke, Longshot, Smellerbee, Jet, and Pipsqueek,” Iroh said. “Those are the names of the kids in that camp. Admittedly I don’t know that one kid, but Mako I’ve met The Duke and Pipsqueek before. Please, whatever they’re having us do, and those plans look an awful lot like minefield plans, won’t be good. Let’s get those girls out and leave.”

“But Jet said his plan would get them out,” Mako insisted. He knew he was reaching. The concerned look on Lu Ten’s face, combined with the nervous one on Iroh’s, told him that.

“No,” Lu Ten said, pulling Mako into a hug, “He didn’t.”

Lu Ten was right, Jet didn’t actually say that. He said it would teach the Fire Nation a lesson, but that wouldn’t save those girls, in fact it might even kill them too.

“I’m so stupid,” Mako said, burying his head in Lu Ten’s shoulder.

“No,” Iroh said, “You just have a big heart, Mako, and bad people take advantage of that.”

“I wanted to be right about them,” Mako explained, his voice breaking. Lu Ten rubbed Mako’s back and shushed him.

“I know, Love,” Lu Ten said. “I wanted you to be right about them, too.”

“Come on,” Iroh said, “Let’s go get those girls, then skip town.”

Mako nodded and pulled away from Lu Ten. “Let’s go,” he replied, his voice hard.

When they reached the Fire Nation camp, Mako was twice as pissed at Jet. Those girls weren’t in any danger. The Fire Nation troops had taken them in last night because the girls were afraid of their drunken father, who was friends with the local Earth Kingdom guards. In a desperate bid to survive, the girls went to the Fire Nation soldiers in the hopes of an outside source helping. The girls’ Aunt had already picked them up and was taking them towards her house, two villages over.

“Well,” Iroh said, “that was anti-climactic.”

“We are very sorry for stirring up unnecessary trouble,” Lu Ten said. “We just wanted to be sure the girls were okay.”

“Not a problem,” the soldier, who had come to see why they were asking around town about them, replied. “We are not here for this town, just those woodland kids. The Fire Nation has no interest in this town, it’s useless.”

Well, that was one way to describe the one road town.

They gathered their things and were about to leave when Mako paused. He couldn’t leave this as it was.

“I can’t,” Mako said. “I have to do something about those kids. They might still go through with their plan, and if they rile up those soldiers, they may not be so peaceful towards this town anymore.”

“Alright,” Lu Ten agreed, “lead the way.”

Jet was waiting for them at the site where Mako was supposed to be making holes.

“I saw you,” Jet yelled, upon spotting them, “talking to those soldiers, what did you tell them?”

“Nothing,” Mako said, “but we did find out that you lied to us. Those girls went to those soldiers of their own accord. They aren’t even in the camp anymore, but you don’t care about that, you were just going to blow it up with those girls in it.”

Mako gestured towards the barrels of blasting jelly the kids had.

Smellerbee paused, but resumed what they were doing when Jet said, “Sacrifices have to be made to win this war!”

“Yes,” Mako said, surprising the kids, “but not those of civilians. If you blow up this camp, you will bring the Fire Nation down hard on, not only yourselves, but this entire town. If you leave, these people will be left alone. Let me help you disappear and start over. I never would have made a life off of the streets had a kind man not extended his hand and helped pull me out. Now, I’m returning the favor. Please stop.”

The biggest kid, or maybe a man, Mako wasn’t sure, was looking between The Duke and Mako in contemplation. So was the other kid Mako didn’t have a name for. Smellerbee looked hesitant, while the boy with the arrows, most likely Longshot, was blank faced. Jet looked furious.

“You don’t get it,” Jet said. “The Fire Nation took everything from me!”

“No,” Mako replied, “I do get it. You’re not fighting for freedom, not with your complete disregard for the safety of the people who need to be freed. Collateral damage happens sometimes, but you’re supposed to plan against it. You’re fighting for revenge, you’re fighting for yourself, everyone that gets caught in the crossfire is worth it so long as you feel better, but you’re ultimately doing nothing. That’s wrong, Jet.”

“If you really want to fight the Fire Nation, we can set you up where you can do that,” Mako said, “or if you want to take out this particular troop we can give you the contacts to send these men on the wildest swan-goose chase of their lives. They can’t hurt anyone if they are too busy chasing ghosts through the Earth Kingdom. What do you say?”

Mako held his hand out to Jet. Jet’s eye narrowed but before he could pull his weapons, Iroh had him pinned to a tree with ice.

Jet growled. “Why do waterbenders keep doing this?” He shouted.

“Here’s an idea,” Iroh said, sarcastically, “stop pissing off waterbenders.”

“Mr. Mako,” the biggest kid said, “can The Duke and I come with you?”

Mako felt like crying. Even if he couldn’t get through to Jet, he was glad to have gotten through to some of the kids.

“Me too,” said the kid Mako still didn’t have a name for, “I was done back at the dam thing but I didn’t have anywhere else to go.”

“Jet,” Smellerbee said, “maybe he’s right.”

“No,” Jet said, finally locking eyes with Mako, “He’s Fire Nation, he’s tricking you! Look at their eyes.”

“We’re war children,” Lu Ten lied, his voice filled with distain, as if Jet was the dumbest thing he had ever encountered. Mako loved how sassy his boyfriend was, well, as long as it wasn’t directed at him.

Mako hated that Jet’s statement worked, Smellerbee and Longshot both backed away. The other three, at least seemed more interested in Mako’s offer, than Jet’s fear tactic.

“Let’s go,” Iroh said.

The three kids quickly followed after him.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t help you, Jet,” Mako said, before turning to walk away.

Lu Ten pulled him into his side as they walked from the town. The kids had surrounded Iroh at that point, seemingly interested in the collected, if slightly awkward, waterbender.

“I love you,” Lu Ten said, “and I am so proud of you.”

“I just wish I could have done more for him,” Mako replied.

“He didn’t want your help,” Lu Ten reassured him.

“I know,” Mako said, “but looking at him, I can’t help but see the person I could have become, had Toza not pulled me and my brother off the streets when he did. Back then I had issues with expressing empathy past a me versus you, mentality. I can’t even imagine how much worse I would be today, if I had stayed in that life.”

“I know Toza hasn’t been born yet but he’s my hero,” Lu Ten said, dropping a kiss on Mako’s forehead.

“Yeah,” Mako said, “he’s mine too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Toza deserves more love in the LoK fandom.
> 
> I was hesitating for weeks to edit the next four chapters of my story but it wasn't the struggle I made it out to be in my head and now I just feel silly.


	3. Meet Your Match - Lu Ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mako finally shares his childhood trauma with his partners and the guys run into an enemy they might not be able to beat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Mako's childhood (kids doing criminal activities up to and including drug dealing).

They left the town with Jet behind. It didn’t sit right with Lu Ten, and he knew it didn’t sit right with Mako, but short of kidnapping Jet and forcing him to come with them, there was nothing they could do.

Iroh was leading them somewhere, most likely to the nearest White Lotus town, but Lu Ten wasn’t paying too much attention.

He walked, or rather limped, behind Iroh and the kids, Mako tucked into his side. He hated that he couldn’t walk properly for long periods of time anymore. Iroh said it would eventually get better but it had been months and it still made walking difficult.

When they got far enough away from the town, they slipped their masks back on. The boys that came with them had been shocked, The Duke in particular looked uncomfortable. Lu Ten wasn’t surprised the Jet had nothing good to say about the Sons of Agni. They eventually settled the kids down enough for their journey to continue.

They were quiet, Lu Ten looking down, every now and again, to check and make sure Mako was still okay. Mako seemed drained by their adventure today, and Lu Ten hated seeing him this defeated.

He had never seen Mako defeated before. Mako, in Lu Ten’s opinion was the strongest of the three of them. He rarely ever let a situation touch him, but seeing him now, Lu Ten was starting to realized things effected Mako a lot more deeply than Lu Ten originally assumed.

“We need to talk,” Mako said, suddenly. His voice was rough and strained sounding.

“About what?” Lu Ten asked. Mako had been silent this entire time, so Lu Ten found it odd that when he did finally speak that was the first thing he said.

“About what happened, last night,” Mako answered, “I get that we apologized for what we said but if I’ve learned anything from my past relationships, it’s to not let something important go for the sake of peace. It just blows up in my face every time.”

Lu Ten had never really dated anyone before, so he easily conceded to Mako’s experience. “Okay,” Lu Ten said, “do you want it to just be us or do you think Ro needs to be there too?”

“Ro needs to be there too,” Mako said, without hesitation, as he stared out towards where Iroh was entertaining The Duke by making mini ice sculptures. The kid’s fear of the Sons of Agni long gone in the face of Iroh’s ice tricks. “If he’s going to be a long-term, forever, part of our relationship, which he is as far as I’m concerned, then he needs to know this, too. You two basically grew up in an entirely different world from me.”

Lu Ten nodded, though he was slightly confused. Mako never talked much about his past. He kept those things close to his chest, so while Lu Ten knew what was coming wasn’t going to be good, he was excited to finally know more about his boyfriend’s life before they met.

Lu Ten felt Mako slip his arm around his waist, as he quickened their pace so the two caught up to Iroh and the kids. The Duke was now trying to eat the miniature bull-frog ice statue’s horn. Lu Ten wasn’t sure that was the best idea, as the water in Iroh’s waterskin couldn’t possibly be clean, the number of times Iroh’s used it in a fight.

Mako threw his other arm over Iroh’s shoulder, when they got close enough for him to do so, and pulled him closer.

“We need to talk tonight,” Mako muttered in Iroh’s ear, just loud enough for Lu Ten to hear, “I think another clear the air session is in order.”

Iroh’s brow furrowed in confusion but he nodded. “Will the kids be fine by themselves? Can they stay in a separate room?” Iroh asked.

Lu Ten paused, also concerned about that. Kids weren’t supposed to stay in places by themselves, but Pipsqueak was technically old enough to watch them.  
Mako didn’t seem concerned. “They’ll be fine,” he assured. “They would probably prefer it that way anyway.”

It still didn’t sit right with Lu Ten but Mako seemed confident. Lu Ten had to wonder if this was what Mako meant by growing up in different worlds.

Lu Ten was surprised, though he should have realized, when Iroh led them to the very town they were originally headed towards. Of course, it would be a White Lotus town, Iroh often made them stop off in them.

Nothing amused Lu Ten more than Iroh’s recent acceptance of his White Lotus position. He was actually really good at it, now that he was putting effort towards it and not dogging behind fruit carts to avoid old people.

He didn’t lead them to a White Lotus house, though. Iroh instead made his way straight to the local inn, which in this town was more of a few spare rooms in a large family home. Lu Ten was about to question him on why they weren’t immediately contacting the White Lotus, when he noticed The Duke was now asleep riding Pipsqueek’s shoulders and Sneers, the previously unnamed kid, was rubbing his eyes in an effort to fight sleep.

Lu Ten still felt uncomfortable leaving the three kids by themselves, but Pipsqueek was a rather large fifteen-year-old, so he left it be, rather than start an argument with Mako.

Iroh kicked the door to the bedroom shut behind him. It had one bed, and Lu Ten had to wonder if Iroh was being confident or hopeful that this conversation was going to end well.

Mako collapsed on the bed. Lu Ten sat on the bed next to him and ran his hand through his boyfriend’s hair.

“Are you sure you want to do this tonight?” Lu Ten asked. “You seem really tired.”

“I won’t sleep if we don’t do this tonight,” Mako answered, pulling himself into a sitting position with a grunt. Lu Ten noticed that somehow, Mako had gotten ahold of Flameo and now had the fire slug plushie in his lap. Lu Ten could have sworn Flameo was in his tote but apparently, he wasn’t.

Iroh, who had been checking the lock on the window, came over and plopped down at the foot of the bed. “Okay, Mako,” Iroh said, “It’s your show, buddy.”

Mako picked at a string on Flameo for a moment before looking up. “This isn’t easy for me to talk about, and I’m telling you right now, you will never understand this part of my life, not fully. I’m not saying that to be harsh, or mean, it’s just the truth. There are some parts of me that you just can’t relate to, and that’s okay, but I still need you to know they are there and to not walk all over them without thought.”

Mako swallowed hard and looked back down at Flameo, where the string had finally come loose. Lu Ten reached over slowly, giving Mako the time to pull away, and grabbed Mako’s hand. It stilled, as if contemplating pulling away, before flipping over and tangling their fingers together.

“When I was eight years old, my family was walking back from a restaurant,” Mako started. “A firebender came out of a side alley that we passed and told my parents to hand over all of their valuables. My parents were both benders, and thought they could fight the guy off, but he quickly took out my mom. I watched her hit the ground and not get back up. Her head had hit the pavement and she was bleeding out over the sidewalk. My dad tried to fight the firebender off, but trying to fight someone and guard two children wasn’t the easiest thing to do. It came to a point where my dad had a choice, dodge and hope Bolin and I got out of the way too, or take the hit.”

Lu Ten felt Mako shake his hand lose, and watched him reach up to rub his face.

“Dad took a full fire blast to his chest and the last thing he told my brother and I, was to run,” Mako said. His voice was shaking. “So, we did. To the nearest place that might have a phone, we couldn’t do anything else. Bolin didn’t know how to bend at all, and I was still learning the basics. There was no way we could have stopped that guy. The, uh, the responders didn’t make it in time.”

Mako had given up on trying to hide the tear tracks rolling down his face. It was killing Lu Ten slowly to not pull Mako close, but he knew Mako was feeling extremely bare right now, and touch would just make him feel worse.

“We were taken to an orphanage after that,” Mako explained. “It was underfunded and overcrowded. There were a few people who wanted to adopt Bolin and I, but never as a pair, and they usually changed their minds when they realized we were mixed heritage. For the next two years, my brother and I bounced from orphanage to orphanage, a few times even running away but we always got caught and brought back or relocated. The last orphanage we were at got closed down. I don’t know why, nor did I care at the time. The city tried to relocate all of us into new orphanages, but some of us slipped through the cracks.”

“My brother and I never intended to slip out, but somehow, in the chaos we got skipped over. As a kid, I thought it was an accident. As a former police officer, I realize now it was probably intentional,” Mako said, his voice gruff and bitter. “Even the police have their bias, and being anti multi-nationality was a big bias back then. You’d think a city built on multiculturalism would celebrate those with mixed heritage but you’d be wrong.”

“It was one of the things I hated about being a cop. I was glad when Lin moved me towards organized crime detective work and left me to myself. I was also glad of how long a leash she let me have. I knew first hand who was, and wasn’t a concern when it came to organized crime. I was quite proud of having the lowest arrest record in the precinct, even if my co-workers often mocked my so-called leniency and tendency to ruffle feathers of those higher up,” Mako smirked. “I thought I could change the way they operated and make a difference, when I realized I couldn’t I made it my mission to be better.”

Mako shook himself, and Lu Ten suddenly realized he had been trying to distance himself in the conversation, a bad defensive habit he had.

“Anyway, my brother and I ended up on the streets after that,” Mako continued. “I was ten, with an eight-year-old brother to feed. I had to quickly take up the position of both mother and father for Bolin. It was really hard, and I know I screwed up really badly in some places. I had a short temper as a kid and I quickly developed a strong apathetic world view. The world couldn’t hurt me if I didn’t care.”

Mako had to pause. He had started crying too hard to continue speaking. 

“But I did care, a lot,” Mako said, his words barely distinguishable. “I didn’t want to be apathetic towards others but if the choice was my life and my brother’s life verses someone else’s, then I had to choose my brother and I had to choose myself because I was the only thing keeping him safe. If I didn’t shut down my concern for others, I would have driven myself crazy, and I know, I hurt my brother a lot doing things like that but I had to.”

“At eleven, I fell in with the Triple Threat Triad,” Mako continued, shifting to lay back on the bed. He curled into Lu Ten’s side as Iroh joined them at the head of the bed. Mako seemed to take comfort in being squished up between them. “They were the worst of the gangs in the city. But they were also the only gang that took in benders of all types. Again, you’d think maybe they wouldn’t hate people with multicultural background but they did. Lightning Bolt Zolt, the leader, took a special interest in me. He saw my apathy and drive and knew that level of detachment would work wonders at lightningbending. I was the world’s youngest lightning bender, even beating out Lord Zuko’s sister by a year.”

“Really?” Iroh asked, his head tilted in curiosity.

“Yeah, not sure if that was really a great accomplishment,” Mako said, giving Iroh a bitter smile. “Zolt had me running messages for him for the longest time, but when I turned fourteen, I started getting more involved with actual criminal activity. I tried to keep my brother at low level crimes like running scams and taking rigged bets. To this day I don’t think he knew that I was doing worse things when he wasn’t around.”

“I played lookout a lot on raids against other gangs and when I turned fifteen, and was old enough to drive, I started driving getaway cars and running drugs,” Mako said. “I was lucky I never got caught, some of the other kids weren’t so lucky and I never really saw any of them again.”

“It was right after I turned sixteen that I got out of that life. I already told you two about Toza, but I never really gave that man as much credit as he deserved because seeing Jet today, made me realize that he really did save mine and my brother’s lives. I had been spiraling at that point, trying my hardest to keep interest off of my brother, but Toza offered us a way out. I knew pro-bending wasn’t going to be the easiest way out of that life, but it gave my brother hope, and it gave me hope for the first time in nearly eight years.”

Iroh had taken to rubbing Mako’s back as Lu Ten started petting back though his hair. Lu Ten was horrified to learn about his boyfriend’s childhood, he had no clue how rough it actually was.

“Growing up on the streets wasn’t easy, and it’s something about me you just need to accept as it is,” Mako said, looking Lu Ten in the eye. “I didn’t eat the best foods, in fact most of it was rotten, and I nearly stunted my own growth, the training regimen Toza put us under was the only thing that got me back on track. I sometimes snatch things as I walk past with little thought. I don’t like raised voices and I have a strong resistance towards authority. I have a lot of baggage from that time in my life, and sometimes I’m still too apathetic towards things.”

Mako sighed loudly.

“A few years ago, I never would have given these kids a chance, I was too jaded to think it worth the trouble. This kid, Kai, he was a street kid like my brother and I, and he showed me that sometimes all it takes is a chance. Kai went from a street hustler and thief, to one of the bravest and most skilled airbenders in the new generation. I was hoping Jet would be the same.”

Lu Ten ran his hand across Mako’s cheek. He knew Mako had taken his failure with Jet personally, but he didn’t realize just how much pain it would have caused his boyfriend.

Mako turned his face till it rested fully in Lu Ten’s hand. “That kid’s going to die,” he said quietly, “because he’s not going to stop until he’s dead. I know, because at one point, I thought I was going to go the same way.”

“No offense towards you two,” Mako said, wiping his eyes and leaning back up to look at them, “but you were raised as two of the most elite people on the planet, and sometimes the things you casually say and do, rub me the wrong way. I know you don’t mean to do it, but just, understand I’m not trying to be unreasonable when I say things, I just have a very different world view than either of you do.”

“I’m sorry,” Lu Ten said, wiping his own tears from his eyes. “I was so concerned with being right, and keeping us save, that I just completely ignored your thoughts on the matter, and I shouldn’t have. You may have been wrong about Jet, but you were still right about these three kids and had we done things my way, that town would have been a lot worse off. I didn’t mean to disrespect your opinion, nor did I mean to ignore your experiences.”

Lu Ten reached out to hug Mako, and Mako settled into his arms. “I know this isn’t why you told us this story but you are bravest man I know,” Lu Ten said, holding Mako tightly as the man finally broke down into outright sobs.

“I’m sorry too, Mako,” Iroh said, rubbing Mako’s back. “I know I’ve spoken over you several times and I didn’t realize just how much that was hurting you. I forget sometimes that you aren’t as emotive as Lu Ten and I, so I often just assume you weren’t too bothered. I didn’t realize just how deeply this ran. Logically I knew you grew up on the streets but you’re right, I didn’t and still don’t really understand what that means, but I want you to feel safe to talk about it.”

Mako nodded, and reached back to grab Iroh’s hands. Mako pulled Iroh forward, till Iroh was wrapped around Mako’s back.

“I love you two,” Mako said, his words slurring as he started to fall asleep, “your delicate, princely, sensibilities and all.”

“We love you, too,” Lu Ten said, placing a kiss on Mako’s temple as his soft snores filled the room.

“Do you feel like shit?” Iroh said, laying his head on Mako’s shoulder. “I can’t believe how long Mako’s just been sitting on this, and we never even asked.”

“Yeah, a bit,” Lu Ten said, “but that wasn’t what Mako’s goal was. We’ve heard him say his piece, now we need to respect it.”

“I wouldn’t have made it,” Iroh said. Lu Ten could hear the tears in his voice. “I wouldn’t have made it through half the things he’s been through.”

Lu Ten shook his head. “I think you would have, and that was Mako’s point. We were raised differently, in different worlds and that’s shaped our thoughts and opinions. Had you grown up like Mako, I think you’d make it, though whether you ended up like Mako or Jet, would be the real question. From here on out we need to remember that, Mako has different experiences and thought processes from us, and even if they are different, they are still valuable.”

Iroh sniffed hard, and pulled Mako closer.

“Hey,” Lu Ten said, as Mako was pulled from his arms.

“Just move closer, stupid,” Iroh said, burying his face in Mako’s neck.

Lu Ten huffed but ended up wrapping his arm over both Mako and Iroh, before the exhaustion of the day caught up to him and he fell asleep.

The next morning, Lu Ten woke up to Mako’s face in his armpit. That wasn’t an uncommon occurrence, Lu Ten just couldn’t figure out why he kept doing it. Iroh was sprawled out half on top of Mako and Flameo had been kicked to the end of the bed by one of them.

Lu Ten took a moment to look over Iroh and Mako as they slept. He reached over to push a strand of hair out of Mako’s face and behind his ear.

Mako had shown them the most trust he had ever given, last night. Lu Ten was both honored at the trust, and horrified at just how much he didn’t know about his boyfriend.

It made him even more worried about Iroh’s own building issues. If Lu Ten didn’t even know how to properly interpret his own boyfriend’s feelings, how well was he actually interpreting Iroh’s? 

Iroh had been distant since they had invited him to join them during sex. Lu Ten hadn’t expected the resistance, but he wished they had never caused it. At least Iroh had given up on the distancing tactics in the face of Mako’s hurting, but he still wasn’t giving them an answer.

Lu Ten had a strong feeling the answer would be no, which while perfectly fine, would hurt a lot. They weren’t just offering because it would be fun, they were offering because they knew sex was a way of connecting with people for Iroh, and they wanted that connection, too.

After last night, Lu Ten wasn’t sure if it was best to leave Iroh alone, or confront him about it. Clearly leaving Mako alone with his thoughts all these years had led to a pile up of frustrations.

There was a knock on the door, and Lu Ten was quickly reminded of their charges. The noise startled Iroh awake but Mako slept on.

Iroh shook himself and answered the door, keeping it cracked closed as he spoke to whichever of the kids was on the other side.

Lu Ten used the moment to swing his leg over Mako’s waist and kiss him until he woke up. The smile under his lips told him he had succeeded.

Mako tried to deepen the kiss but Lu Ten stopped him. “No time for that this morning, Love,” Lu Ten said. Mako grunted in disappointment but pushed until Lu Ten let him up.

Iroh shut the door and turned back towards them.

“The boys are hungry, so I think we should take them to breakfast soon. The inn has a dining room that serves breakfast and dinner. I told them to wait for us there,” Iroh explained. He changed his clothes, having slept in the others the night before.

Mako sniffed his, shrugged his shoulders and quickly brushed his teeth. Lu Ten looked between the two before following Mako’s lead. Lu Ten didn’t like changing clothes, so any reason he could find to not do that, was taken.

Iroh looked at the two of them in disgust, but schooled his features when Mako raised his eyebrows in question. Lu Ten paused for a moment, as he realized Mako’s habit was less because he didn’t want to change clothes and more because he was used to wearing clothes until he couldn’t anymore. The things Mako did from his childhood became a lot more obvious now that Lu Ten realized they were there.

Lu Ten shook himself and kissed the side of Mako’s head as he slid past his boyfriend to the toilet basin. He had missed his mid-night pee session, as Mako and Iroh called it, and really had to go.

“He doesn’t even like having sweat on his body,” Lu Ten said, pulling his pants down just enough to use the toilet, “of course he thinks it’s gross to wear the same thing for multiple days in a row. The only reason he doesn’t change daily is because he doesn’t have room for the clothes or the energy for the laundry.”

“I can hear you,” Iroh said, from the main room.

Mako snorted, then choked as water went up his nose.

Lu Ten laughed as he pulled his pants back up into place.

They slipped their masks back on and met the boys down stairs. Lu Ten felt slightly bad for the cooks, as nothing could have prepared them for three hungry growing boys, and three men who easily ate their own weights in food. 

Lu Ten was soaking up the last of his broth with a piece of bread, as she walked in.

Lu Ten hadn’t seen her in six or so years, but he knew that bubbly energy anywhere. He had to be good at picking up on it, least he, accidently, fall into one of her many traps to steal his attention and win his affections. She was a nice enough kid but being the object of her childhood crush was in all honesty, a slight nightmare.  
Lu Ten had no clue why Ty Lee, of all people, would be here but she disappeared as quickly as she came.

Lu Ten looked over and made eye contact with Iroh.

“We need to leave,” Lu Ten said, startling Mako and the boys, “now.”

The boys seemed to sense the urgency in Iroh and Lu Ten’s voices and movements. They kept quiet and stayed close to the three men, even as Iroh took them down alleyways and at one point, up and over a roof. Before Lu Ten knew it, they were outside a random building with Iroh practically pounding on a non-descript door.  
“Who knocks at the guarded gate?” the man on the other side of the door asked.

Iroh rolled his eyes. “One who has eaten the fruit and tasted its mysteries,” Iroh said, “We need to move quickly, if you would.”

“Always, impatient, young Rozin,” the man said, opening the door.

Lu Ten held Pipsqueak back before he tried to walk through the door. Iroh had told them plenty of times that unless the two wanted to become members, they weren’t allowed in the safe houses.

Iroh exited the house quickly, a kindly old man, following behind him.

“Right,” Iroh said, “This is Adi, he’s going to help you find a better life, okay?”

The three boys nodded. “Adi, these are Pipsqueak, Sneers and The Duke. That’s, The Duke, not just Duke,” Iroh clarified.

Adi smiled. “It is a pleasure, children, might I interest you in a cup of tea before we move on to finding you new homes?” Adi asked.

Sneers looked hesitantly back at Lu Ten and Mako before following the older man into the house next door.

Adi paused outside the door.

“Most of the planning will be done by us, but I figured giving the boys some options will work best. This danger you are running from, will it affect them or can I let them loose on the town when we are done with our discussion?” Adi asked.

“It’s a danger to us, not them. We just wanted them out of the crossfire,” Iroh said. Adi nodded and offered Iroh a bow, which he returned, before entering the house himself.

“Azula’s in the area,” Lu Ten explained, to Mako. “Ty Lee isn’t usually found very far from Azula, unless she grew a spine at some point while I was gone and decided to take a vacation to the middle of nowhere in the Earth Kingdom.”

“She did,” Iroh said, as they made their way quickly back to their room, “eventually grow a spine. She just hasn’t used it yet. Mai’s with them too.”

They gathered their things together but they didn't get out of the town quick enough. A metal-tipped, wooden spike went flying past Lu Ten's masked face.  
“So, Ty Lee, was telling the truth,” Azula said, her voice projecting across the gap between her group and his, “the Sons of Agni are here, you three may not be my useless Uncle or brother, or even the Avatar, but why settle for only scraps when I can take the entire plate, and just wipe out all my father’s irritants while I’m here. Shameful of you to run, I was hoping for something more impressive and challenging, but if you wish to run, we can always catch up later.”

Lu Ten came to a halt, Mako and Iroh following him. If his baby cousin wanted to play, then Lu Ten would play. He wasn't about to be chased across the Earth Kingdom by a kid he used to change the diapers of.

"If your pride gets us killed," Iroh yelled, taking up a defensive stance as the girls quickly closed in on them, "I'm bringing you back to life and killing you again."  
It was really invasive, and extremely unfair, of Iroh to always know what Lu Ten was thinking.

They wasted no time waiting for the girls to attack again. The second they were in a range they could attack, they did.

Lu Ten high kicked towards his cousin, keeping his good leg on the ground for balance. Azula ducked down and retaliated. A swipe of blue flames fanned out towards him and Lu Ten hesitated slightly before dispersing them.

So, his little cousin figured out blue flames, he could admit he was impressed. Last time her saw her, her flames were still orange.

Azula slid in close to him and slashed out with a fire dagger, Lu Ten grabbed her wrist and flipped her. He brought his heal down towards her head to knock her out.

Azula was quick to get back on her feet though and had Lu Ten not rolled away when he did, her flames would have burned his face.

Lu Ten, now a fair distance from Azula, paused to take in his surroundings, shooting the occasional flame towards Azula to keep her back. His right leg was screaming in protest, but it was too late for Lu Ten to change his mind about this battle.

Iroh had been using waterbending against Ty Lee, but the girl had managed to get in close to him. Now the two looked like they were doing a dance routine more than fighting as one was forced to dodged when the other struck out. Iroh had little room to bend with Ty Lee right in his face, so he was only using water to augment his attacks.

On the other side, Mako was mostly hiding form Mai, ducking and dodging behind rock walls, his main goal seemed to be keeping her attention. Mai looked pissed so whatever Mako was doing was working.

Azula had closed back in on him, and Lu Ten was forced back into the fight. His blocked the flames coming towards him, in a way Iroh had shown him. The flames arched around him in a half sphere shape before launching back at Azula, now under Lu Ten's control.

She wasn't prepared for the blast, as firebending didn’t turn an opponent’s move against them like waterbending did, and went dodging to her left towards Mai.  
Lu Ten could now see Mako out of the corner of his eye as Mako pulled up another wall between him and Mai. Lu Ten could see Mako's journey closer and closer to the girl, as other rock walls still stood behind him.

Mai's knives slammed into the rock wall as Azula started running towards Lu Ten. Mako pulled his fist back into a firebending move, a move Lu Ten was mimicking towards his cousin.

Lu Ten realized too late that Azula was doing the same. Their flames slammed into each other and knocked them back, at the same time Mako's rock wall shattered into sharp pieces directed at Mai.

Mai dodged as Azula skidded across the ground. Lu Ten had been thrown back and rolled with the movement back to his feet. He nearly collapsed as his right foot landed first, sending pain radiating up his leg.

He and Azula wasted little time re-engaging in combat. Azula seemed more interested in testing him than fighting him right now, which told Lu Ten, he had impressed her at some point. 

He got in close to her and did something that used to make her mad when they were younger, he put her in a head lock.

She scratched at Lu Ten's arm but he only dropped his cousin when she finally bit him. She always bit him, when he put her in a head lock.

Lu Ten launched out, aiming a warning shot over Azula's head but at the same time Mako had launched Azula up. Azula barely had time to block the flames as she went flying from the blast and Mako's launching.

Azula slammed into a building and slid to the ground.

Lu Ten heard Iroh's water drop and, with Azula out for the count, turned towards him. Iroh and Ty Lee were slipping and skidding in the mud produced from Iroh's water hitting the ground. 

He had been chi blocked. It didn't stop him from fighting but it did slow him down enough that Ty Lee flipped over him and hit Mako in the back.

With Mako's bending blocked Mai wasted no time throwing another pike towards Mako.

Lu Ten had never seen Iroh use his knives before but one launched past Mako towards the other projectile.

Iroh's knife sliced through the wooden part of Mai's pike at an angle just behind the metal coated tip. The pike busted apart and the knife kept flying till it slammed into the weapon holder on Mai's arm. It was apparently spring loaded or something, as the remaining pikes launched out in the direction Mai's hand was pointed.  
The pikes pinned Ty Lee by her clothes to one of Mako's walls, Mako having already moved out of the way.

Mai took up a defensive stance but a deep voice from behind her had her hesitating.

"I wouldn't do it knife lady," Pipsqueak said, his huge frame towering over the fifteen-year-old. Lu Ten had no clue where the kids came from. "There's six of us and one of you."

Mai took in her surroundings before standing up straight and poised as if she wasn't about to try to kill them.

"Whatever, I don't even care," she said. Lu Ten had to wonder just what happened to her to make her go from a quiet but sweet girl, to someone so sad and apathetic at the world.

They took that as their cue and ran, nodding goodbye to the three boys. The White Lotus would take care of the former Freedom Fighter boys.

As they crested the top of the hill leading out of town, Lu Ten turned back to see Azula now standing and glaring out towards them. Much like when he did it to his father, Lu Ten had no clue what possessed him to wave.

Azula didn't look amused. 

This small victory was going to come back to haunt them, Lu Ten could feel it in his bones.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear you people are going to think I'm obsessed with pee, particularly after chapter five, but I made one comment about Lu Ten peeing in the middle of the night all the time and now I have to keep him consistent. I didn't expect his peeing habits to come up this much, I really didn't.
> 
> be sure to check out the short story that goes with this chapter!


	4. Fan the Flames - Iroh

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Iroh finally tells his friends what was bothering him, before they run into the Kyoshi Warriors who were being tracked by the Rough Rhinos.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS: Iroh tells the story of an abusive relationship he was in. This is a majority of this chapter.

Iroh woke up to a boob in his face. That wasn’t too surprising considering who he had gone to bed with last night. One of his favorite parts of sleeping with women, sexually or platonically, was being able to rest his head on a boob. They made good pillows. Iroh shifted his head till it rested on said boob and closed his eyes again, as the heartbeat under his ear lulled him back to sleep.

His eyes shot back open at the laughter from above him.

“You’re something else, Pretty Boy,” June said. Her voice was huskier than usual, due to having just woken up.

“You weren’t supposed to see me do that,” Iroh said, a blush spreading down his neck. He had thought she was asleep.

“Why not?” June asked, running her nails through his hair. “It was cute.”

Iroh hummed and let June continue petting him. Iroh loved the scratching sensation of nails through his hair.

“People keep saying that,” Iroh said softly, with a playful pout. “That I’m cute. First Lu, now you.”

June laughed. “That means it’s true, Pretty Boy,” June said, trailing her free hand across his stomach and down his body.

Iroh had long since given up on getting June to call him by his name. She was technically three years older than him, and as such, according to her, had the right to call him a boy no matter how old he got. Iroh didn’t follow that logic, but he also kind of liked the nickname, so he left it be.

“I told Mako and Lu that I’d meet them for breakfast. Considering what happened the first time the two of us had sex, I probably shouldn’t be late.” Iroh replied, poking her side.

June abruptly stopped her hand’s movement south before smirking against the top of Iroh’s head. “Aw, come on, are you boys ever going to forgive me for that?” June asked.

“You’ve already been forgiven, June,” Iroh said, pulling himself upright and off the bed before he lost the willpower to do so. “We just haven’t forgotten what you’re capable of.”

“Be sure you don’t” June said, as she watched Iroh stretch. “I have my job to get back to, so I was going to have to kick you out soon anyway.”

“Oh yeah,” Iroh asked, as he bent down to pick up his tunic, “what’s got you all the way down here?”

“The Kyoshi Warriors,” June replied and Iroh stiffened. 

“What are they doing up here?” Iroh asked, turning back towards June. June shrugged lazily.

“Don’t know,” June said, reaching out to drag him back towards the bed, “they’ve just been giving the Fire Nation a hard time. It’s another one of those, my life or theirs, jobs. The Fire Nation’s been giving me a lot of those recently, including their little upstart of a Prince, they’ve yet to take my life, so I’m starting to think they’re bluffing.”

Iroh sighed and allowed June to pull him down onto the bed. He had to pull his shoes on, anyway. “The Fire Nation never bluffs, you just haven’t outlived your usefulness yet,” Iroh said, slightly worried for his friend. The face June made told Iroh she already knew that.

“They are teenage girls to young adult women,” Iroh explained, his voice slightly strained. “I know you’re in a hard spot but please, just keep that in mind.”

June reached out to grab his hand. “Hey,” June said, apparently picking up on Iroh’s tone, “I don’t have anything to track their scent, I’m working under my own skills here. If I can’t find them, well, then I can’t find them.”

Iroh smiled softly. “Won’t that ruin your reputation?” Iroh asked, turning to face June.

“As if,” June replied. “If anyone thinks I’m incapable of my job, that’s the last mistake they will make.”

“Thanks,” Iroh said.

“What makes you think I’m doing this for you?” June said. Iroh looked at her and she rolled her eyes. “You’re making me soft, Pretty Boy, I might need to get rid of you.”

“You would never,” Iroh said, pulling his hair up.

June just hummed in reply. Iroh took that as a win.

Now fully dressed, he turned to June and planted a kiss on her forehead.

“See you later?” Iroh asked.

“Maybe,” June replied. She smiled at Iroh, and Iroh smiled back as he left the room.

Iroh and June had become closer since that night she took Iroh to get his tattoo. At first Iroh thought they were just running into each other randomly, then he realized that June was tracking him down, when she wanted to see him. Iroh was, at first, slightly suspicious but he eventually figured out that she didn’t have any real friends and thought him interesting enough to spend time with. Iroh could understand that, he used to be the same way.

Iroh was glad that, at the end of the day, he and June made up. As much as he loved Mako and Lu Ten, having something separate from the rest of his crazy life, that he could occasionally escape to, made him feel steadier.

June was also just fun to be around in general, even when they weren’t having sex, which was admittedly most of the time. June seemed to like how Iroh respected her as a friend first, and usually friendship was all she looked to him for. Last night they had both just been unusually horny.

Iroh knew what he did last night would bring back up Mako and Lu Ten’s question. He wouldn’t have done it, if he hadn’t really needed the distraction. Iroh still didn’t have an answer for the other two men, or rather, he didn’t have an answer they would want to hear.

When he got back to their rooms, Iroh was happy to find the other two men still asleep. He let them rest while he did his morning yoga routine. It stretched out some muscles he had put to work with June last night.

With his morning routine done, and his mind in some semblance of order, Iroh tapped Lu Ten awake.

Lu Ten looked at him with bleary eyes. “Hey,” Iroh said. “Are you two going to join me for breakfast or what?”

Lu Ten stretched out and grunted before laying back down.

Iroh was about to start tapping him again, when he rolled himself out of bed, and made his way into the bathroom. This inn was slightly more upscale than they typically had, so there was easy access to be able to fill a bath tub. Iroh could hear Lu Ten taking advantage of that fact and filling the tub.

Iroh rolled his eyes. Apparently, they were skipping breakfast this morning. 

Iroh would deal with him and his bath water later. For now, he was stuck with the challenge of waking Mako up, a challenge he hadn't had to deal with since Lu Ten and Mako had started dating.

Clarity struck Iroh, as he realized that was his solution. Lu Ten liked to wake Mako up by crawling over him and planting kisses all over Mako's face, until Mako was forced awake and smiling. They were obnoxiously cute like that. 

Iroh and Lu Ten, though they never mentioned it, knew Mako woke up the second Lu Ten straddled his waist. It was hard to stay asleep when a six foot five, two-hundred-and-thirty-seven-pound man sat on you. Iroh’s mind still had trouble wrapping around how the string-bean twenty-one-year-old they had originally picked up, had turned into a walking, muscular tree trunk.

At this point, Mako instantly woke up to the bed moving in a specific way. Iroh wasn't nearly as heavy as Lu Ten, but hopefully Mako wouldn't notice.  
Iroh pulled himself onto the bed and swung his leg over Mako until he was sitting across Mako's hips. He could see Mako already smiling, and leaned forward as if he was going to kiss him. 

Instead, at the last minute, Iroh shouted, "Wake up, Mako," before flipping them both off the bed.

Mako groaned and hit Iroh on the butt as he stood up and made his way towards the bathroom. 

Iroh recalled Lu Ten then, soaking in a relaxing tub while Iroh starved to death.

Iroh peered through the slight opening of the door, made a swirling motion with his hand and let out a cooling breath. He had been fascinated to learn that breathing techniques were just as important to waterbenders as they were to firebenders.

There was a yelp from Lu Ten as his bathwater turned to snow.

"Ro, I'm going to kick your ass!" Lu Ten shouted. His voice was slightly shaky as he stood from the tub, shivering slightly.

Iroh laughed and ran from the room. He waited for them in the hall near the checkout area. Mako came stomping down the stairs followed by a pouting Lu Ten. It was a bit mean spirited, but his friends really did look cute when they were irritated.

The two men continued walking as Iroh fell into step beside them. They didn’t stop for breakfast, just picking up foods at stalls here and there as they left town. Mako lead them further south. 

Iroh assumed it was with unspoken agreement that the three of them were going to take this opportunity to check in on their allies in the southern Earth Kingdom. It had been a while since they had last traveled this far past Omashu.

Mako was still half asleep as he walked and Lu Ten seemed content to walk in silence, for once. Iroh hoped that wasn’t a sign that the two of them were actually mad at him.

Iroh knew he was probably irritating them with his recent hot and cold behavior. He had been bouncing beak and forth between distant behavior and their normal close behavior, since Lu Ten and Mako extended their invitation to join them in bed. He could admit that the invitation scared him and he had been pushing his panic over it aside, ignoring it. He was worried that his friends were trying to push a boundary he wouldn’t budge on, but at the same time Iroh wasn’t opposed to the idea. 

He liked them, a lot, they weren’t traditionally unattractive, though Iroh didn't really care much if they were, and Iroh knew they were good enough in bed to keep him entertained. He had walked in on them enough times to know.

He was just worried about where accepting the offer may lead. He didn’t want this relationship to end like the rest had. He was worried about them using it as a gateway argument for more. It had happened often enough over the years that he knew the signs and when to run.

He thinks if Lu Ten and Mako ever tried to force him into the romantic side of their relationship, he might just break apart.

His last relationship, before they had time traveled, hadn’t crushed him, but it had come close. He barely made it out of that situation with the ability to trust people. If he lost the relationship he had now, Iroh didn’t think his heart would survive it.

Mako was staring at him in concern and Iroh realized his internal battle must be clearly displayed.

“You okay?” Mako asked, drawing Lu Ten’s attention.

“Did June do something?” Lu Ten asked. He was, for some reason, always ready to make June disappear should the occasion call for it.

“Yeah, I’m fine and no June was great,” Iroh said, picking at his nails. “I just need to work something out in my head.”

“Alright,” Mako replied, “but if you need us, we can help you sort it out.”

“I’m good,” Iroh said, before pausing, “actually, I have a question.”

Iroh waited until they were both looking at him. They came to a stop on the trail, giving Iroh their undivided attention.

“When you two gave me that invitation back before Omashu,” Iroh started, “do you, I mean, what exactly are you wanting from that?”

Mako and Lu Ten traded a look that made Iroh’s heart drop.

“We just, figured,” Lu Ten said slowly, still looking at Mako, “that you looked at sex as something fun to do or an occasional need that needed tending to, and that if you wanted, we wouldn’t mind you joining us. I know you said you tend to keep friends around who are cool with occasional, casual sex with you. I know June isn’t always around and that she’s the only one you currently have like that. I don’t know how often you do have sex but we just figured, we aren’t uncomfortable with the idea, and in fact would actively enjoy it, and that maybe we could join that number.”

“Yeah,” Mako said, “so that if June isn’t around when you need her, you’ll still have us. Plus, you know, you’re hot and that’s always a bonus.”

Iroh snorted. “But,” he continued, hesitantly, “you guys don’t want anything past that, you’re not going to expect anything from me, say a year down the road?”

“Iroh, I don’t even expect anything from myself a year down the road,” Mako said, missing his point. “I’m winging it man.”

Lu Ten pulled Iroh into a hug. “I can’t say the dynamics of our relationship won’t change in a year,” Lu Ten said, lifting his mask to emphasize his point and show his full face, “but if you’re asking if we’re going to force our relationship on you at some point, the answer is no. I wouldn’t force a relationship onto Mako, and I won’t do that to you. You’re our life partner, and as you always remind us there are expectations that come with that, but dating and marriage and even sex, aren’t those expectations.”

“Mako’s made it clear,” Lu Ten sighed, “that we apparently step on each other’s toes without realizing it. I promise you I would never intentionally do anything to make you uncomfortable, and neither would Mako, so if we do, talk to us. I’m serious, in fact I’m editing our truthfulness agreement from tell me things pertaining to me, to just talk to me guys. Please, I grew up with a father I shared and told nearly everything to. Even after four years of knowing you guys, I’m not used to these guessing games you two are so good at.”

Iroh nodded, a huge weight lifted from his shoulders. He had been carrying that fear for days, months if he was being completely honest.

“Okay,” Iroh said.

“I don’t know who broke your trust so badly that you were that afraid, but I hate them,” Mako said, throwing his arm over Iroh’s shoulder.

“Yeah,” Iroh replied, shaking his head, “I hate her, too.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” Lu Ten asked. Iroh was surprised to find that he did.

“It started slowly,” Iroh explained, feeling his heart beat harder in his chest as he recalled the worst year of his life. “I was stationed in Republic City during Kuvira’s three-year reign over the Earth Kingdom and it gave me a lot of time to build up a place in the city. I had a lot of friends at the time and I met this really awesome couple who I clicked with instantly.” 

“It was, a similar situation to this,” Iroh said. “I was friends with these two people, really good friends with them and they invited me to have sex with them. I knew, going into it that it was a friend’s with benefits relationship, and I was perfectly fine with that but they kept inviting me back. Eventually, it developed into something more. I had started throwing around the term queer-platonic relationship, and they seemed to be down for it.”

“It was, one of the best relationships I had ever had,” Iroh said, staring down at the ground, “but it was based on a miscommunication. With us now defining ourselves as being in a relationship, I started staying over at their house more, under invitation. Then things started going downhill.”

“Rumi, the woman, had been under the assumption that I was still a friend with benefits relationship, but that it was to become a more permanent situation, not that I was going to be a part of their relationship,” Iroh said, his voice breaking slightly. That night had been painful, being told by someone he loved, that they didn’t want him. He thought they had fixed their issues that night, and had been grateful that Rumi had been willing to try again with new understanding, but she still missed the point.

“We eventually, got things straightened out, or at least I thought, we did. Rumi had gone from thinking I was a live-in friend with benefits, to thinking I was a fully integrated part of their relationship. That wasn’t really wrong. I was,” Iroh said with a shrug, “but the way she defined our relationship wasn’t the way I had defined it.”  
“She started getting mad at me for things,” Iroh explained. “She and Ash, her husband, would go on dates and she’d get mad when I wasn’t ready to go with them. I eventually caved on that, thinking that if it meant that much to her, I could cave on that one thing.”

“She got worse about things, though,” Iroh continued, his voice felt strained as he spoke. “I wasn’t giving her enough attention or the right attention. I took too long to get it up. I wouldn’t have sex with them every time they wanted to have sex. I was being cruel to her by not showing her affection the same way her husband did. It hurt when someone who says they love you, proceeds to tear into you over who you are as a person.” 

Lu Ten pursed his lips and Mako grunted. Iroh didn’t need to be a mind reader to know they were getting mad.

“I started believing her,” Iroh explained, a knot forming in the back of his throat. “I was too cold. I wasn’t enough for her. There was something wrong with my sex drive. I didn’t think my self-esteem could have gotten lower. I tried to talk to Ash about it, because while Rumi was trying my patience, I still very much-loved Ash. He was very sweet and understanding when I didn’t want to do something and often ran interference between me and Rumi. He tried to get her to be patient with me, and let me define our relationship myself but it didn’t work.” Iroh paused to regather himself.

“It got worse. Slowly we stopped going out with everyone and it was just the three of us. Rumi stared visiting me at work for lunch, so I could never get away from her long enough to breath.” Iroh explained.

“I had never been in a relationship like that before, so I never noticed the signs,” Iroh said, his voice shaking. “I didn’t realize how bad it had gotten, until I was at the point where I was so worn down my co-workers were noticing, and my mom could tell through the phone that something wasn’t right. Ash had no clue she was still saying these things to me and I didn’t know how to tell him again. I was scared of what she would do and that no one would believe me, or worse that no one would care. I had enough one day, and I was going to leave. She stopped me. I know what she said was a lie, but it’s still something that gets to me.”

Mako pulled Iroh in closer. “You don’t have to say it,” he assured, “We don’t need to know if you’re uncomfortable.”

Iroh shook his head. He needed to talk about it. “She told me no one else would want me. That she, and Ash, were the only ones willing to put up with me and I owed them for it. At the time, I was living in their house and while I had other places to stay, I still had no friends to speak of and my family on the other side of the ocean. I believed her. We stayed together for a full year before I left.”

“The last day we were together, she lost her temper again and was yelling at me, when Ash walked in. She didn’t notice and threw a lamp at my head. It was the first time she’d ever gotten physical over something and Ash lost it. He pulled us apart and helped me get my things together. It took everything I had in me to run that night. I went straight to the embassy and told them to call my grandfather,” Iroh said, his voice breaking.

He took a deep breath leaning into Lu Ten’s hand on his shoulder. “I couldn’t spend the rest of my life like that. I would have rather spent it alone at that point. Ash didn’t contact me until six months later to tell me that Rumi and him were getting a divorce and that it was for the best that I kept my distance,” Iroh said, forcing the last bit of his story out.

“I know,” Iroh stressed, looking intently between Mako and Lu Ten, “I know this isn’t the same situation, but my only friends are you two and June. My family’s in another dimension. I don’t have a place to go if I leave you two. So, when you guys offered that, my brain made a connection and I started freaking out. Rumi, was the worst, but she wasn’t the only one to try and manipulate me into something more than I was comfortable with.”

Telling that story was hard, but Iroh felt like a curse was lifted from his body as he said it. That maybe, this time, he could have what he wanted.

“I just,” Iroh said, “I needed to be sure.”

“Iroh,” Lu Ten said, his voice strained. “What you have to offer is enough, more than enough and it always has been. Don’t let anyone, including us, make you feel like it isn’t.”

Iroh nodded and lifted his mask to wiped his tears from his face. He was worn out from opening up like that. He thinks he knows how Mako felt a few days ago when he opened up himself.

Truthfully, Iroh could use a nap but they continued walking, Mako’s arm firmly around Iroh’s shoulder and Lu Ten leading them.

“I need to sit down for a moment,” a woman’s voice said, a bit further down the road.

“I’m sorry, ma’am,” a younger female’s voice replied, “we have to keep moving, those soldiers are still following us.”

“Maybe we should split up,” a man suggested, “I appreciate your help but the Fire Nation surely isn’t following my wife and I.”

“The Fire Nation is tracking both of us,” the younger female said, “they may have been after us first but we saved you from them when they switched sights to you.”  
“But what would they want with us?” the woman asked. “We have nothing!”

Iroh and his friends finally rounded the corner, and Iroh could admit his inner fangirl kicked in. He should have known they’d run into them after June mentioned it. At some point after the war the Fire Nation had gained its own division of the Kyoshi Warriors, and Iroh absolutely loved them. 

His sister never really bothered with the Kyoshi Warriors, more fascinated by other female role models like their mother and grandmothers, but at one point in his life Iroh had followed them everywhere like a lost turtle-duck.

As a child he would often watch them practice and occasionally they let him join them but only if he wore their traditional dress. He knew it had been a test, as most boys ran at the suggestion, but if Iroh was completely honest with himself, he kind of really liked wearing things like that. He wasn’t above stealing the occasional skirt from his sister’s closet and Iroh wasn’t unfamiliar with Republic City’s drag scene. 

His mother wrote it off as one of his quirks and usually left it be, though on occasion, she was known to encourage him, in his discovery of his gender identity, at the very least. It was, oddly enough, the only aspect of his identity she didn’t worry over and try to hide from the Fire Nation public. 

The young female that had been talking was Suki. Iroh knew his Great Aunt anywhere, having idolized her throughout his childhood. His dad joked that the only person who talked about Suki more than her husband, was Iroh himself.

“Please,” Suki said, “we aren’t trying to be rude, but we need to keep moving, until we get you somewhere safe.”

“The way we just came from isn’t safe,” Lu Ten replied, butting into the conversation.

The Kyoshi Warriors readied their weapons and Lu Ten startled backwards.

Iroh raised his hands in surrender. “We’re just passing through, but we wouldn’t head that way if we were you,” Iroh said, “The Fire Nation Princess is in that direction. Omashu has fallen. We know refugee routes through this area and up into the middle Earth Kingdom, we can help direct you.”

“I don’t know Ro,” Mako said, “they said they have the Fire Nation following them, we can’t send them down refugee routes until their tail is gone.”

“So,” Suki said, “if we get rid of our tail, you’ll lead us to Ba Sing Se?”

“Ah, no,” Lu Ten replied, “we will direct you to Ba Sing Se, we don’t really have time to walk you there.”

Suki nodded. “I’m Suki and these are the rest of the Kyoshi Warriors who came with me, Kelia, Hina, Fin, and Shah. These three are Than, Ying and Tana. They were chased from their village and are trying to make their way towards Ba Sing Se before Ying gives birth.”

“Birth?” Lu Ten asked. His voice was high, as if he thought just saying the word might induce labor.

Iroh ignored him. “What type of Fire Nation troops are you currently running from? Scout set up, guard troops, enforcers?” Iroh asked, trying to get a clear idea of what they were signing up for now.

“Um,” Suki said, “We’ve kind of only recently left our island. We don’t really know the difference and various troops have been chasing us, this is just the most recent.”  
“They call themselves the Rough Rhinos,” Than said, “and for some reason they followed the three of us from our village.”

“Were you someone important?” Mako asked.

“It’s a small settlement, but it still had a governing official, and Ying’s his daughter,” Tana explained.

“A political point then,” Lu Ten said, scratching his beard.

“Or a matter of pride,” Iroh interjected. Lu Ten nodded absentmindedly in agreement.

“We’ve encountered these men before,” Mako explained, “they won’t be deterred until you wipe the floor with them. They like terrorizing people in the name of the Fire Nation, and right now, you look like easy targets.”

“Why because we’re girls?” Suki asked defensively.

Mako laughed. “Both of my ex-girlfriends,” Mako paused, as if reevaluating his words, “were extremely dangerous women. So, while I know you are very capable, that’s probably exactly their thoughts on the matter, that and the vulnerable pregnant woman. Direct your rage there.”

Suki narrowed her eyes but nodded. “We should intercept them on the road, they won’t expect us to have stopped,” she said to her warriors, cutting everyone else out of the conversation.

“Might I make a suggestion, as someone who has fought these men before,” Iroh interjected.

Suki turned to him, open yet suspicious. “The Rough Rhinos operate on ambush attacks, even when invading villages, you may have better luck attacking from the sides of the road,” Iroh explained.

“Are we not assisting them?” Lu Ten asked, confusion clear on his face.

“No,” Suki said, “We’re going to get rid of this trail ourselves, and you three are going to take them,” she pointed towards the small family, “somewhere safe, and tell them the way to Ba Sing Se.”

“Don’t you need that information too?” Mako asked.

Suki paused. “We can find our way on our own,” she said. She sounded hesitant, like she didn’t want to pass up the chance at the information but knew it was dangerous for them to have.

Iroh pondered on the issue before an idea started forming. It was a United Nation’s military tactic, but it may work here.

“We can still tell you,” Iroh said, “but you’ll have to piece it together, later. We can tell each of you, different information, that when put together makes a map but when separate looks absolutely incoherent. That way if one is captured, they only have a bit of the story and none of the context.”

Suki’s shoulders relaxed. “Thank you, all three of you have been very helpful,” Suki paused before asking, “Out of curiosity are you three the Sons of Agni? We’ve heard about you on the way up here.”

The small family and the other warriors were watching them with open curiosity.

“Yeah,” Lu Ten replied, “helping people like you guys is what we do.”

Suki nodded. That seemed to be all she needed to know.

“You should leave now,” Suki said, “the more distance you gain before they reach us, the better.”

Iroh nodded, not even hesitating to trust the young girl. He knew what the Kyoshi Warriors were capable of, they might have a hard battle, but it was one they could win.

Lu Ten hovered slightly as the small family started putting their things together.

“Are you sure?” Lu Ten asked, one last time.

Iroh placed a hand on his shoulder. “They could handle your eldest cousin and his men attacking, so I think they can handle these guys.”

Suki narrowed her eyes slightly, and Iroh realized he said something he shouldn’t have known and something that gave away, at least Lu Ten’s identity.

“How did you know what happened on Kyoshi?” Suki asked.

“Word travels quickly, even from your island,” Iroh lied. “It was how anyone knew your island housed the Avatar, in the first place.”

Iroh actually knew the details because it was a running joke between Suki and his grandfather, Zuko, that he had attacked her village and owed her, but he couldn’t tell this Suki that.

Suki accepted that answer and turned her attention to Lu Ten. “You’re related to that nutjob?” Suki asked.

“If I was,” Lu Ten said, Iroh could tell form his tone he wasn’t pleased with the nutjob comment, “no one can know it. It would, hypothetically, be extremely dangerous for me.”

Suki’s face softened. “I’m sorry,” she said, “it can’t be easy having family like that.”

Lu Ten shrugged looking awkwardly the other way.

Mako had finished giving the other warriors their pieces of information, and quickly came over to whisper something to Suki.

“Thank you, I’ll remember,” she said. “You should go now.”

That was a statement easier said than done as the Rough Rhino with the bolas came barreling down the road. He was their scout, which meant the rest of the men couldn’t be too far behind.

Iroh didn’t hesitated to water whip the tail end of the rhino as it rode by. The rhino charged forward abruptly, throwing off the aim of its rider. The bolas went swinging past Suki’s head rather than wrapping around her.

Iroh saw Lu Ten launching an attack of his own as Mako direct the small family up the embankment on the side of the road, to get them out of the line of fire. He erected a wall for them to take cover behind before launching up and over it, to drop back down onto the ground.

The earth trembled under his feet and the rhino went skidding across the ground, Mako stealing its traction on the earth.

The Kyoshi Warriors had pulled out their shields at that point, Lu Ten also bracing himself. Iroh turned behind him to the rest of the Rough Rhinos tearing down the lane.

Mako kicked out at the ground, sending a rolling wave through the earth that launched the Rough Rhinos back.

“Go,” Suki shouted at them, “take the family and go. We will be fine, but they need to get out of here!”

Suki didn’t have to tell Iroh twice. He kicked out and twisted in the air, sending a final wave of water crashing over the scout, who only thought he was getting back up, before gathering up the small family and running off, Mako and Lu Ten on his tail.

Lu Ten hesitated slightly, but Mako snatched his arm and dragged him off. Iroh heard Lu Ten grunt, and felt an intense heat behind him. He looked back to see a giant wall of fire forming between the Rough Rhinos and the Kysohi Warriors. Suki nodded at them through the trees and then faded out of sight as they kept running.

The Kyoshi Warriors would be fine, particularly with the Rough Rhinos already being roughed up. Iroh laughed at himself over that pun, something that unnerved his travel companions.

Iroh made the executive decision to take them south-west, through the woods. It backtracked the family, but it would throw off the trail, if the chaos of the fight didn’t do so first. A village was about three miles south of where they were, that would be able to cart the small family up the coast to the next safe town, then on to Ba Sing Se.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't gotten around to writing it yet, but if anyone would be interested I do have a short story planned out about Iroh's love life before he travel back.
> 
> Another question, would anyone be iffy about slight sexy times here and there? Nothing too major, I just don't want to fade to black like I usually do for five to ten minutes and fade back in.


	5. Tea Time - Mako

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lu Ten discusses having children, gets a kidney stone and runs into some interesting people. Mako just wants his boyfriend to act like a normal person for five seconds at some point today.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Pee jokes (I'm sorry)

After leaving the Kyoshi Warriors to their business, and hopefully, the Rough Rhinos to their downfall, the group of six quickly took off.

Lu Ten kept checking behind him, as if continuing to watch the direction the Kyoshi Warriors were in, would allow him to know if they were in trouble.

“Lu,” Mako said, sliding his arm around his boyfriend’s waist, “they’ve been training for things like this their entire lives.”

“Still,” Lu Ten said, biting his lip, “they’re just kids.”

“Actually,” Iroh said, joining them on Lu Ten’s other side, “only Suki is younger than eighteen. She’s Sokka’s age. All the rest are older, she’s just the leader because she, despite being younger, has been doing it the longest. Her parents died when she was a kid and the Kyoshi Warriors invited her to stay in their training house. Suki started off just cleaning up the floors after practice but when she got big enough, she didn’t hesitate to take to the arts like a fish to water. Trust me, they will be fine under her leadership.”

“All they really need to do is take them down once,” Mako said, “you know how the Rough Rhinos are, one hit and they leave you alone for good. One hit from a group of women? I wouldn’t be surprised if their fragile masculinity collapsed under the pressure and they quit all together.”

Lu Ten laughed. “I guess you two are right,” Lu Ten said, pulling Mako in closer to his side.

“So,” Iroh asked, projecting his voice over to their three new travel companions, “uh, sorry but I kind of forgot your names in the commotion, well other than our, soon to be mother, Ying, right?”

The young mother to be nodded.

“My name is Than,” said the man, “and this is my younger sister, Tana.”

Tana waved slightly.

“Tana, while not in any real danger, decided to come with us as she’s helped deliver several children over the years and wanted to be with us just in case,” Than explained.

“How far along is your wife?” Lu Ten asked, smiling nervously at the couple. Mako was greatly amused at how scared Lu Ten seemed to be at the thought of the baby being born while he’s around.

“I’m nearly eight or so months along,” Ying said, “I’m really hoping we make it to Ba Sing Se, before I’m due.”

“Do you want me to take a look at it?” Iroh said. “I’ve never helped anyone give birth but I’m a waterbender and we are able to judge the health of a person with it, even in the womb. I watched my GranGran do it with my baby sister.”

Ying placed her hand on her stomach. “Could you?” she asked, looking over at Iroh. “Do you need me to exposed my stomach?”

Iroh shook his head and moved towards her. Than looked a bit nervous, when Iroh pulled out a small bit of water. With his hand coated, he placed it below Ying’s stomach.

The water soaked into the fabric as it started to glow. Mako wasn’t sure what Iroh was actually doing, he just appeared to be staring off into space with his hand on Ying’s stomach.

“No need to be so rude,” Iroh said, pulling his hand back. He appeared to be talking to Ying’s stomach. “I was just trying to look at you, you didn’t have to kick me.”

Ying laughed slightly.

“Well?” Than asked.

“Healthy, and a spitfire,” Iroh said with a smile. 

“Can you tell its sex by doing that?” Yana asked.

“Sort of, the one they’ll be born with. I already know it if you want me to tell you,” Iroh said, with a shrug.

Their three travel companions, as well as Lu Ten, looked slightly confused at Iroh’s comment, but none of them asked.

“No thank you,” Ying replied, “I want it to be a surprise.”

Iroh shrugged his shoulders before stepping away to give the small family their space.

They continued on for the next two miles in silence.

Iroh was now walking at the front and Mako couldn’t help but stare at the back of his head. Iroh surprised Mako, a lot, sometimes.

Every time Mako thought he had Iroh figured out, something new would pop up and send Mako reeling. From that first surprising fact of being Bumi’s son, to learning he used to be in an abusive relationship, Mako realized, even after four years of friendship, Iroh remained a puzzle.

He wondered what other things Iroh was hiding about himself.

Mako couldn’t talk much, though, he himself kept things hidden and he had a sneaking suspicion that Lu Ten also kept things to himself, despite the fact that he was the one calling for truthfulness. Mako wasn’t going to call him on it though, not until it became a problem.

They reached the town and split up. Iroh took the small family to their contacts in the village, for once not the White Lotus, while Mako and Lu Ten headed over to the inn for a room. The sun was going down at that point and there was no way they would make it further unless they wanted to camp for the night.

Mako plopped face first onto the bed and grunted when his breath was knocked from his by his giant boyfriend.

“Get off,” Mako muttered into the pillow.

Lu Ten laughed into Mako’s shoulder. “But you’re comfy,” Lu Ten said.

“I’m squished,” Mako replied. Despite his protests, Mako didn’t complain further and instead wrapped Lu Ten’s arms around his head so he could rest on them.

Mako liked having Lu Ten on top of him. There was something comforting about his boyfriend’s weight bearing down on him and Lu Ten’s soft, warm belly resting against his back. He loved when Lu Ten wrapped his arms around him and was slowly becoming addicted to the feeling of Lu Ten’s beard scraping across his face or neck.

He had been terrified of losing this. He was still terrified, he’d lose this.

They laid like that for a minute or so before Lu Ten broached a topic Mako wasn’t prepared for.

"Do you want kids?" Lu Ten asked.

Mako’s eyes shot open. Mako didn’t really know the answer to that question and he had no way of escaping this conversation either with Lu Ten on top of him. His boyfriend did this on purpose.

“Mako?” Lu Ten asked, slightly more hesitantly this time.

Mako sighed. “Maybe,” he replied, “I want kids, I do but I think the details are something to work out after the war and definitely with Ro. We need to consider him in this too. I’m not sure how good of a parent I would be. I didn’t raise Bolin in the best environment.”

Lu Ten was silent for long enough that Mako assumed the topic was dropped which was why he was startled when Lu Ten asked, “If we have a kid would you want to do birth or adoption?”

"Um, Lu, babe, we can't give birth," Mako said, finally turning enough to see his boyfriend’s face.

"No but its common in the Fire Nation for same sex couples to use surrogates," Lu Ten explained. "They wouldn't be able to inherit, even if they were my kids, unless I changed that law but, if we go that route, I kind of want the kid to be yours."

Mako didn’t know how to reply to that.

"Lu, babe," Mako said, "we've been dating for four months. We aren't even married. There's time to figure stuff like that out, besides I thought the Fire Nation was weird about their royalty? What's going on in your head?"

"I want a kid with your eyebrows," Lu Ten said. Mako’s brows furrowed. That wasn’t an answer, it was a deflection. Lu Ten wanted something but he didn’t know how to ask for it.

"If I wanted to adopt my cousins after we defeat Ozai would you be okay with that, too?" Lu Ten finally asked.

Lu Ten finally got to the point he was dancing around, and Mako wished he hadn’t.

"I, um, what?" Mako asked. He was stumbling around for something more coherent to say but honestly, he had lost tract of this conversation.

"My cousins," Lu Ten said, as if that clarified anything.

"You mean the one that burned me or the one that just tried to kill all three of us?" Mako asked, slightly exasperated.

Lu Ten didn't look amused. "Both," he said, "look, my uncle is abusive. He was so abusive and scary that even I was scared and nervous around him, and I could get away if I wanted. I don't think I need to go into the details but when I left for Ba Sing Se, my cousins were both still fairly average children, though Azula's always been a bit much but nothing like what I saw a few days ago. I want to give them a chance again."

Mako sighed. "I don't have an answer for you, and truthfully, Iroh and I aren’t the only ones you need to ask that question to," Mako said, honestly. "I really don't know but, should life unfold that way, I'd be willing to consider trying with you. Either your cousins or raising a kid from birth, but please, can we date a little longer and get married first before we rehash this conversation? I love you but this really isn’t the time to be considering these things."

Lu Ten nodded and fell silent. It wasn’t a comfortable silence.

“Lu, baby,” Mako said, kissing the fingers of Lu Ten’s hands, “I’m not dismissing the conversation. I just want us to hold off and run it through our heads a bit before we talk about it more.”

“Okay,” Lu Ten said, releasing a deep breath across Mako’s head before kissing it. “I understand.”

“Well, that’s a new sex position,” Iroh said, as he came into the room.

Lu Ten snorted, and rolled slightly off of Mako.

“Ro,” Lu Ten said, “Do you want kids?”

“Ah, no,” Iroh said tilting his head, "but if you two want kids, I'll be the coolest uncle ever."

“Deal,” Lu Ten said. Iroh rolled his eyes at the odd conversation.

Mako was slightly annoyed that Lu Ten took that answer better than he took Mako’s.

“We weren’t having sex, just so you know,” Mako said, addressing Iroh’s original comment as he leaned up to look at Iroh, now that he was freed.

Iroh was standing awkwardly next to the bed, shifting form foot to foot.

Mako felt his heart sink to his stomach. Surely, they hadn’t made Iroh uncomfortable enough throughout the day that he didn’t even want to share a bed with them. Mako winced slightly recalling that they had sort of strong-armed the man into talking about an abusive relationship, then Lu Ten just ambushed him over having children.

Iroh seemingly nodded to himself before joining them on the bed.

“I don’t know if you two are interested in sex tonight. I could personally take it or leave it right now, but,” Iroh paused, “I’m tired of letting that woman control my life, and more than anything I want to fall fully into this relationship we’re building. I’m scared, but I also very much want to see where this goes, even if it falls apart at my feet, because not knowing, and not trying, just doesn’t sit right with me.”

Mako held his breath as Iroh continued laying down his terms.

“If I think for a second, that one of you is trying to pull something, I’m leaving. I don’t know where I’ll go but it won’t be with the two of you,” Iroh explained. “I can’t live through that again and I won’t. I love you two, but please understand this is taking every last bit of trust I have left to do this. Don’t try to change me.”

Iroh had tears running down his face as he spoke. Mako didn’t even need to look behind him to know Lu Ten did too.

“Never,” Mako said, his own voice coming out choked up, “never.”

Iroh nodded and leaned into Mako.

“Are you sure you want to do this tonight?” Mako asked.

“You were the one who told us not to have sex the first time hyped up on love hormones,” Lu Ten added.

Iroh nodded into Mako’s shoulder.

“Yeah,” Iroh replied, “I need this tonight.”

“You won’t regret it in the morning?” Mako asked.

“No,” Iroh replied. “Even if everything goes wrong tomorrow. I won’t regret tonight.”

Mako traded a look with Lu Ten. Lu Ten looked as hesitant as Mako did.

“Please,” Iroh begged.

“Right, okay,” Mako said, after Lu Ten shrugged at him. “Logistically, how do you want to do this? I know you said to stop sharing details but now you are a detail so I’m telling you right now, Lu Ten isn’t topping anyone. I got him to do it once when we first started having sex but he prefers receiving, and refuses to budge on the matter. I’m more versatile.”

Iroh shrugged, laying back on the bed. “You like being in the middle, don’t you Mako?” Iroh asked with a weak and shaky smirk.

Mako’s stomach jolted with pleasure at that implication.

“Otherwise,” Iroh continued, “I’m also on the versatile side.”

“No, the first suggestion is good,” Mako said, wincing at how eager he sounded. His voice had come out slightly breathless.

Mako blushed as Iroh shot a look over Mako’s shoulder. He knew Iroh and Lu Ten were amused by him.

“Lead the way then,” Iroh said, laying back on the bed like he was a buffet of some sort.

Mako hoped with everything in him that Iroh didn’t regret this in the morning, because it was the best sex he’d ever had. It was too bad the morning after glow was ruined by Lu Ten waking up in the middle of the early morning to puke.

He had apparently been vomiting for nearly an hour before Iroh bothered to wake Mako up.

“He’s saying his back hurts,” Iroh explained, “but I can’t figure out what’s causing it. He woke up to pee this morning, as he always does but he couldn’t. Then he tried to drink some water because he was sweating but that was a mistake as he immediately spit it back up. He’s in the bathroom now. He’s scared to leave the chamber pot, in fear that he’s going to throw up on the floor again. He doesn’t have anything left in his stomach to throw up, but he’s had a hard night. Can you stay with him while I clean up the bile outside the bathroom? Then, I’m going to see if there’s anything here I can get for him to settle his stomach.”

Mako went from blearily looking around to being wide awake the more Iroh spoke. He quickly slid out of bed, not even bothering to get dressed, and made his way to Lu Ten.

“Watch the bile,” Iroh said, as Mako nearly stepped in it.

Lu Ten looked miserable, wearing only his under cloth and bent over the pot on the floor. Luckily for him the only thing it contained, was his own bile or Lu Ten might have been throwing up for a different reason.

“Hey,” Mako said, sitting down beside Lu Ten, “what’s up?”

“There’s a sharp searing pain in my left side,” Lu Ten said, “and I think my bladder is about to burst.”

Mako’s eyes went wide. “Ro?” Mako called, “It’s not his appendix is it?”

“That’s on your right,” Iroh called back. “It might be his kidneys or his pancreas. I don’t know anything about the pancreas, so if that’s what’s wrong, Lu Ten’s kind of screwed.”

“What about his liver?” Mako asked.

“Also, on his right, not his left,” Iroh replied, coming into the wash room with a towel. He threw it in the tub as he reached forward to check Lu Ten’s temperature.  
“See, Lu,” Iroh said, “this is why you shouldn’t pee in the middle of the night.”

“Fuck you,” Lu Ten groaned.

Iroh laughed. “I’ll be back,” Iroh said. Mako heard the room door shut behind him and wondered if Iroh was aware he left without a shirt on.

“Do you think it might be your gut?” Mako asked, moving a strand of hair away from Lu Ten’s face. “I could massage it for you if you need me to.”

“I’m scared to roll onto my back,” Lu Ten said. His voice was tight with pain and Mako felt as helpless as he always did when his brother was sick as a kid.

Mako scooted closer until he was wrapped around Lu Ten’s back, and rubbed his hand softly across Lu Ten’s bent over stomach.

Mako leaned back against the wash basin, pulling Lu Ten with him. Lu Ten burped slightly and they both paused but he didn’t throw up, so Lu Ten finally relaxed in Mako’s arms.

“Sorry, that was gross,” Lu Ten said, as he rested his hot forehead on Mako’s neck.

“It’s fine,” Mako said, as he continued to rub Lu Ten’s stomach. Mako was expecting the situation to be more awkward than it was, but it just felt like any other time they helped each other through a battle wound.

Iroh came back into the room with a glass.

“Bottoms up, Lu,” Iroh said, handing him the drink. Whatever it was, it smelled strongly of mint.

“That should help with the nausea, and with that gone we can focus on the other issue,” Iroh said, plopping down next to Mako.

Lu Ten looked at the drink with fear, no doubt not wanting to throw up again. He drank it down and after a while started looking less ill.

“Okay,” Lu Ten said, “now I really need to pee, so either get out or expect a show.”

“Like we haven’t seen it before,” Iroh said, standing up to leave. “Mako’s already got his out.”

Mako followed him out, blushing slightly. Sunlight was shining through the window. Mako and Iroh decided they’d go ahead and leave, since they were already awake. Iroh packed their bags while Mako finally put some clothes on.

“I don’t even understand,” Lu Ten said, walking out of the bathroom. “I just peed but I still have to pee.”

Iroh sighed. “Probably because your bladder is so small,” Iroh joked. “In all seriousness, I really hope you don’t have a kidney infection. We don’t have time for that. Are you good to walk?”

“Yeah the pain and nausea are gone,” Lu Ten said, “I just really have to pee.”

“Was there any blood?” Iroh asked, slinging his bag on his shoulder.

“Didn’t check,” Lu Ten said, “but it’s still in the pot if you want to look.”

Iroh made a disgusted face. Lu Ten laughed before returning to the bathroom.

“No blood,” he said, before gathering up his things.

“I don’t know what to tell you then,” Iroh said, as they left the room.

They grabbed breakfast at random stalls, Lu Ten passing on the meal all together.

It wasn’t far into their journey that they nearly stumbled right into Azula and her girl gang. Mako held his breath as the eelhound started sniffing the ground and turned its head in their direction. Azula looked over as well but apparently didn’t see anything.

They took off through the forest, following something.

A patch of white fur drifted slowly down to the ground in front of Iroh.

“Appa,” Iroh said, holding the fur up, “that’s why she ignored us, she’s chasing Appa. Good to know we are lower on her to kill list than the Avatar.”

“Wait,” Mako said, “she ignored us? So, she saw us and just kept going?”

“Yeah,” Lu Ten replied. “She’ll come back when she has the Avatar though, so we better keep moving.”

They picked up the pace but Lu Ten kept making an odd face the longer they walked. Mako had to wonder just how long he was going to pretend like he didn't need to pee.

Apparently, the answer was until his bladder burst.

"Lu," Iroh, finally, yelled, "go pee! I'm sorry I made fun of your bladder this morning! For the love of everything just go pee! The last thing we need is for you to have to pee and Azula’s attacking us!"

Lu Ten flushed slightly but ran off into the woods.

"I know I made fun of it this morning but I really am worried about him," Iroh said. "He's never had issues peeing. I want to take a look at him now that he’s not at risk of throwing up on me but he probably won't let me after my joke this morning."

"Yeah," Mako said, "I am too. I don’t want him to a have a pain relapse."

Mako paused. "Is this what being in a relationship is like? Discussing your partner's peeing habits when they become abnormal?" Mako asked.

"Caring for your partners health is definitely up there on things you have to do," Iroh replied.

"Ah, Fuck," Lu Ten yelled.

Mako and Iroh traded a look before taking off in Lu Ten's direction.

"What was that for?" Lu Ten yelled, as Mako and Iroh came closer.

Lu Ten was yelling at a small girl and an older man. When Mako looked closer he realized the small girl was the original Chief Beifong, Lin's mother. The old man was awkwardly enough, Lu Ten's own father.

"Why were you sneaking up on us?" Toph asked, taking up a fighting stance.

"I just really need to pee, okay?" Lu Ten replied. "I've needed to pee since I woke up this morning but I couldn’t but when I did it still wasn’t enough and I'm in physical pain because of it and now you've hit me with a fucking rock."

Mako quickly made his way down the small hill. Lu Ten sounded like he was about to cry and all jokes aside, this was starting to get concerning. Iroh was one step behind him the whole way down.

"Wait a minute," Toph said, looking between the three men wearing dragon masks, "you three are the Sons of Agni! Aang's been looking for you! He wants one of you to teach him firebending."

"I won't be teaching anyone anything if I die from not being able to pee!" Lu Ten replied.

"Young men," Lu Ten's father stated, "do any of you have ginger or lemon on you?"

"Uh," Mako said, turning to Iroh. Most of their food usually ended up in his bag for some reason.

Iroh dropped his bag on the ground a dug around in it before pulling out a rather small lemon.

"Will this do? It's kind of small," Iroh said, handing over the lemon.

"It will be fine," Lu Ten's father replied, taking the fruit from his namesake.

Mako didn't know much about tea but for someone who hated it so much, Iroh did. "Why are you making Green Tea? Won't that just make him need to pee more?" Iroh asked.

"It helps with bladder movement yes, but that is where the lemon comes in. I fear your friend may have a kidney stone. Truthfully ginger would be better but this may as well do the trick. Dandelion might work as well and those are easy enough to find if anyone wants to go look for them?" Lu Ten's father trailed off. His suggestion was clear and Mako quickly took off to find the stupid weed for his suffering boyfriend.

Mako only found two which really irritated him because they were usually everywhere.

He got back to their impromptu meeting spot to find Iroh and Lu Ten sitting around the tea pot.

"Here," Lu Ten's father said, handing Lu Ten a small tea cup. "Drink this and you should eventually pass it. You have been eating too much salt or maybe caffeine."

“Too much salt?” Iroh asked, his eyes going wide. Iroh was usually the one who cooked for them and it was no secret that he liked salty and tangy foods.

“Yes,” Lu Ten’s father replied, “the body can only process so much salt or caffeine before it starts forming crystals in the kidney’s that move out through the balder. Your friend seems like he may have a rather larger one to pass. It will probably hurt, but the good news is the pain you said he felt this morning was the stone dropping into the bladder. It will pass soon enough.”

“But,” Iroh said, “our diets have been the same for four years now, surely if he had that much trouble with salt, one would have formed before?”

Lu Ten’s father hummed. “I supposed it is possible that one could develop a spontaneous inability to process salt. I’ve seen it happen to people with caffeine but salt is rather odd. More likely, your friend has struggled with it the entire time but it is only now that one has formed large enough to notice it,” he explained.

Iroh looked slightly guilty as he looked at Lu Ten.

“Sorry,” Iroh said softly.

Lu Ten waved him off. “You didn’t know. I didn’t even know,” he replied.

Mako handed his pitiful collection of dandelions over to Lu Ten's father.

"You should thank your not-boyfriend for getting you these dandelions," Lu Ten's father said to his son.

Iroh's eyes went wide behind his mask. Lu Ten nearly spit his tea out but swallowed it at the last minute instead. Mako sat next to Lu Ten to try and help him.

Lu Ten coughed for a minute before coughing out, "Who told you that?"

Lu Ten's father didn't verbally answer but his mischievous eyes glanced over at Iroh.

Lu Ten followed his line of sight.

"I'll get you later," Lu Ten said, before turning back to his father.

Lu Ten seemed to be gathering himself for something. "He actually is my boyfriend now," Lu Ten said, his voice shaking slightly. Mako realized this was the first time Lu Ten would have ever told his father he liked men. Mako had to wonder if the anonymity helped or made it worse.

Lu Ten leaned over and kissed Mako's temple. "Thank you," Lu Ten whispered into Mako's hairline.

Mako smiled.

"Okay, me being in trouble aside, what would you have done if they weren't already together and you said that to them?" Iroh asked, pouting.

"Call it an old man's intuition," Lu Ten's father replied. "I'm glad you two have worked things out. I know young Rozin was both annoyed and concerned about you two."

Lu Ten breathed a slight sigh of relief into Mako's hair. Mako didn't know what comfort Lu Ten drew from this conversation but he hoped whatever it was helped him.

"Eww," Toph exclaimed, apparently done being ignored in favor of lovey-dovey moments. "Anyway, Aang wants the Red Dragon as his firebending teacher. He originally wanted the Green Dragon to teach him earthbending but he found someone arguably better. I was going to quit but Uncle convinced me to give it another shot, so you're out of luck."

"Oh, no, however will I go on," Mako said, cutting across Toph.

Toph glared at him. "Sugar queen is still holding out on training from Rozin. Is there any particular reason everyone knows his name and not the other two?"

"I just talk to people more," Iroh replied with a shrug. It was true. Despite Iroh being extremely introverted he was more talkative than Mako and less likely to accidentally spill secret information like Lu Ten.

“Well,” Toph said, standing up, “I’m going to go find my friends now, if you three want to join me, we’ll need to leave now.”

Mako traded a glance with Lu Ten and Iroh. Lu Ten didn’t look like he wanted to move anywhere, but he nodded. Iroh did the same.

Lu Ten stood, handing his cup of lemon, green tea back to his father, only to be handed another cup with dandelion in it.

“You can keep the cup if you wish,” Lu Ten’s father said. “I wish you all luck on your journey.”

“Thank you,” Lu Ten said, bowing towards his father. Mako vaguely recognized it as a bow one gave an esteemed family member. Lu Ten’s father seemed surprised but bowed back as best he could, still sitting down.

“Oh,” Toph shouted, turning back to Lu Ten’s father at the last minute, “and about your nephew, maybe you should tell him that you need him, too.”

Mako was confused by that but figured it was from their conversation before they interrupted them.

Toph confidently led them. Mako had no clue how she knew where she was going but she seemed to know exactly where her friends were despite the fact that they had a flying bison.

Lu Ten pulled them to a stop after a short while. “I know, I know, tiny bladder, but I really have to pee again,” he called, running off into the woods.

“Your friend is weird,” Toph said. Mako wasn’t sure she had room to talk, considering she was currently digging in her nose.

“Yeah, but we signed on for it anyway,” Iroh replied.

Toph huffed. There was a grunting noise coming from Lu Ten’s direction. Mako looked to the sky for strength then followed his boyfriend back into the woods.

“You okay, Lu?” Mako asked, coming up behind his boyfriend. Lu Ten was bent over and for a moment Mako thought he was throwing up again, but no, he was looking at something.

“Lu?” Mako asked.

Lu Ten picked something off the ground and turned towards Mako. “This just came out of my dick. No wonder it hurt so bad,” Lu Ten said holding it out towards Mako.

Mako made a face but Lu Ten just continued staring at him expectantly. Mako rolled his eyes and looked at his boyfriend’s penis stone. It was rather big, but still gross to look at.

“Did it cause any bleeding?” Mako asked.

“Ah, not really,” Lu Ten replied dropping it on the ground. “That was just the biggest one, whatever my father did made it break up into smaller pieces.”  
Mako snorted as they made their way back to Iroh and Toph.

“You know,” Lu Ten said, “it’s kind of funny. My father’s still looking out for me, even when he doesn’t know it. I guess somethings just need a parent’s touch to get better.”

“Yeah,” Mako whispered slightly, thinking of his own parents, “they do.”

“I’m sorry,” Lu Ten said, pulling Mako into a sideways hug. “That was insensitive to say to you.”

“No,” Mako replied, “I would never be mad at you for having your dad around. What you said wasn’t wrong. There have been things I’ve needed my parents around for, more than anything. I’m glad your dad could be here for you today.”

Lu Ten leaned down to drop a kiss on Mako’s lips. Mako leaned up into it, pulling Lu Ten’s head closer and deepening the kiss.

“Are you two serious?” Iroh said. Mako pulled back to see Iroh watching them incredulously. “We are on a time crunch and you two are kissing in the woods. Lu Ten better have peed.”

“Not that it’s any of your business but I did, the kidney stone passed to so there’s that,” Lu Ten said, walking past Iroh, before pausing. “Wait what time crunch?”

Iroh’s eyes went wide. “Aang may be about to duel both Zuko and Azula while being extremely sleep deprived and we should probably help them. That’s all I know about it, my grandfather, Aang used to joke about getting caught up in Fire Nation royal family drama in the ruins of Tu Zin. Considering how close we are to it, I’m going to assume that’s what’s happening now,” Iroh explained.

“You could have mentioned before now!” Lu Ten said, before marching from the woods.

“I didn’t realize until recently!” Iroh shouted back.

Mako followed the two as they continued bickering.

Their back and forth argument, was cut off as they left the woods and saw the town of Tu Zin back behind Toph. Toph was holding still, as if she could hear the light display the three men were watching.

Mako realized with a jolt that she was actually sensing it through the ground. Mako closed his own eyes and slowed his breathing. Reaching out he could feel the movement of about five to seven people in the town and one person moving rapidly towards it.

Mako opened his eyes to see a shape he could vaguely identify as Lu Ten’s father making his way into the town.

“Those are twinkletoes’ movements,” Toph said, “I’d recognize them anywhere. Sugar Queen and Snoozles are with him but I don’t know who the other four are.”

Iroh’s brows furrowed. “That’s not right,” Iroh said, “there can’t be that many there. They aren’t supposed to be here.”

“Why not?” Toph demanded. Iroh looked at her before shaking her head.

“Never mind,” he said, “it’s not important.”

His body language said otherwise but Iroh was already running towards the town shouting behind him, “Azula has Ty Lee and Mai with her.”

Something about Iroh’s tone told Mako she wasn’t supposed to. He could only hope they hadn’t just changed something major.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I got the pee jokes out of my system. I never intended for them to be a thing. Anyway, it worked out because I needed Lu Ten sick so his dad could fix it.
> 
> PSA: Kidney stones don't usually heal this quickly thought what I listed can help pass one sooner rather than later.


	6. Family Reunion - Lu Ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lu Ten and his friends jump right into the three way fight between Zuko, Azula and Aang. History shifts slightly to the left and now the Gaang ends up forming a temporary alliance with the Sons of Agni as well as the banished Prince.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: not sure there are any though Lu Ten nearly breaks Azula's wrist.
> 
> There is also a sex scene at the very end starting around the time Mako and Lu Ten enter the tent. Skip if you don't want to read, it lasts to the end of the chapter.

Lu Ten took off after Iroh, Mako and the young girl Lu Ten still didn’t know the name of, trailing behind him. Iroh was running like his life depended on it so Lu Ten took that as his cue to do the same, even though he didn’t know what was going on and his body was still sore from passing a kidney stone.

The ruins Iroh was barreling towards, were a fair distance away. Mako and the girl outstripped him as Lu Ten’s old leg injury gradually slowed him down until he was half hopping, half jogging towards the others. His leg and gut were both screaming at him to stop being an idiot but Lu Ten had bigger priorities, as he finally reached the town and realized just who was causing such an explosive bending display.

The scene was absolute chaos. Not only was the Avatar present with his friends, Katara and Sokka, but Azula was also here, as Iroh said with Mai and Ty Lee, and so was Zuko. Lu Ten’s father made eight opponents all seemingly fighting each other. 

“Ty Lee and Mai aren’t supposed to be here,” Iroh whispered in Lu Ten and Mako’s ear. “They were supposed to follow Katara and Sokka.”

“Why do you think it changed?” Mako asked.

“Because we’re here,” Lu Ten whispered back. “Azula knew we were nearby and wouldn’t risk splitting up with so many enemies in the area.”

“Right,” Iroh replied, “Katara and Sokka would have circled back to find Aang as soon as they realized the fake tail wasn’t working and Aang was in danger.”

“So, what?” Mako asked. “Now we have to deal with all of them? Who do we even fight? Obviously, we need to protect Avatar Aang but who’s helping and who’s not, here?”

Lu Ten looked back at the fight. Mako was right, it was hard to determine. He wasn’t sure if the main goal was to stop Azula, capture the Avatar or kick Zuko’s ass but all three things appeared possible. In fact, all three things might even be happening at the same time.

Azula, Zuko and the Avatar seemed to be having a grand time taking turns chasing each other around the ruins of the town, while Mai and Ty Lee kept the waterbender on her toes. Sokka appeared to have fallen victim to Ty Lee’s chi blocking as he was laid on the ground in an odd position. Lu Ten’s own father appeared to be using his advantage of being a free fighter to run interference in the two fights currently raging through the town.

He admittedly stuck closer to Katara, as she was currently outnumbered and at the undivided attention of her opponents, but Lu Ten’s father also never took his eyes off Zuko and his fight for too long.

Before Lu Ten could get his head fully wrapped around the chaos, the young girl with them, had already taken off into the fray yelling, “Leave my friends alone!”  
Ty Lee nearly managed to chi block Katara but her balance was thrown off at the last second. The young girl had moved the ground out from under her, a favored trick of Mako’s.

“I thought you guys could use a little help,” the girl said.

“Thanks,” Katara replied with a slight smile.

The addition of Toph shifted the dynamics of the battle, in favor of the Avatar, but he was still fighting two separate enemies. While those two enemies fighting each other proved helpful, the fact remained, he was on his own between two Fire Nation royals while his friends were pinned down with another fight.

Toph’s presence gave Lu Ten’s father more room, but he, oddly appeared to be doing little more than refereeing at this point. He protected Zuko’s back when it was turned, and put every effort into stalling Azula but as far as capturing the Avatar, he seemingly held back.

Lu Ten narrowed his eyes, wondering just what his father was playing at this time. Every time, though admittedly it’s really only been the three times, he’s run into his father since Ba Sing Se, his father had been acting odd. This wasn’t the exception and if there was one thing Lu Ten was going to pull form this interaction, it would be answers. Answers about Zuko, answers about the White Lotus and answers about this whole Avatar business his father was mixed up in.

“Right,” Lu Ten said, “I think I’m done watching. Azula is the one we need to take out. I don’t care if my father and Zuko are trying to capture the Avatar too, I want them here because I want answers from them. Iroh, Mako, you two help Katara and the earthbender, see if you can get Sokka back on his feet.”

Iroh narrowed his eyes. “You’re not going to jump into a fight with your cousins, father and the Avatar by yourself,” Iroh said.

“Watch me,” Lu Ten said, ignoring the way his leg screamed in protest and his gut clinched. 

“He’s going to get himself killed,” Mako muttered, mournfully. It was the last thing Lu Ten heard before the sounds of rumbling earth, splashing water and igniting fire took up his senses.

Lu Ten paid no attention to whether Mako and Iroh followed him into battle, his focus was already locked on Azula. He brought down a lash of flames down on her head. She rolled sideways and launched back to her feet as she took in her new competitor.

“It’s seems like it’s my lucky day,” Azula said, launching her own strike back. “All of my enemies gathered in one place for me to defeat once and for all.”

She didn’t seem too concerned as Zuko took to battling Aang in the background. Lu Ten’s father joined that fight, but again Lu Ten couldn’t tell who he was helping and who he was hindering.

“Yeah,” Lu Ten called back, “good luck with that, it’s what three to nine? You’re outnumbered, and outmatched.”

“It’s cute that you think so,” Azula said, as she launched a whip of fire out at him. Lu Ten blocked it, as well as the two similar strikes that followed.

He heard a cry from who he thought was Katara, followed by a growl that he knew came from Iroh, before the sound of a huge wave crashing against the shore was heard. Lu Ten didn’t have the ability to look as Azula kept bearing down on him with strike after strike of flames but he knew someone had just ended up half drowned.

Lu Ten finally saw an opening in Azula’s attack and when she threw yet another whip of fire towards him, he planted his feet firmly to the ground like Mako showed him, ignoring the pain that flared up his leg with the movement, and pushed forward. His own flames launched straight through Azula’s sending the fiery blast back in her direction now twice as powerful.

She dodged and Lu Ten flinched slightly as the flames went straight in Zuko and Avatar Aang’s direction. His own father dissipated the flames.

Azula rolled back to her feet and smirked. She flipped around and kicked out, but no flames followed. It wasn’t until her foot had already slammed into Lu Ten’s injured leg, that Lu Ten realized what she was doing.

Lu Ten screamed at the blow landed, falling to his knees and looking up at his cousin, though the hairs that had fallen over his face.

“And to think,” Azula said, “I almost thought you were a challenge.”

She left Lu Ten on the ground, cradling his leg as she turned back to her brother and Avatar Aang. Iroh slid to his side, panting.

“Do you need help?” He asked, looking around them with wide eyes.

Lu Ten shook his head as he turned to take in Mako and the earthbending girl battling it out with Mai and Ty Lee. Mai, sopping wet from Iroh’s earlier attack, apparently learned from her last fight with Mako and was now taking the high ground. Mako’s walls did no good when Mai merely used them as a vantage point.

As far as Lu Ten could tell the earthbending girl was making a gymnastic course for Ty Lee, who rather than fighting, appeared to be having a blast maneuvering through the rock course developing around her. Though upon closer inspection she was also moving slower than usual.

Katara was sat by her brother, apparently now out for the count as well. Lu Ten tried to recall how long chi blocking could hold, but the answer was depressingly, long enough.

Lu Ten couldn’t see victory for anyone, even Azula, in this fight, as her fighters also appeared to be tiring. His frustrations with this entire fight were building, as he watched his cousins clash with the Avatar once more, fire swirling through the air as the airbender pushed it off course. Lu Ten narrowed his eyes at the three, knowing what he had to do.

“Get back to them,” Lu Ten said, pulling himself, slowly to his feet. “I’ve got my cousins.”

Iroh frowned at him but jumped back down, bring a wall a water down on top of Mai, again, and knocking her from her vantage point.

Lu Ten shook himself off and rubbed his leg where Azula had kicked him. With a deep breath he launched back into the fight, this time disrupting both Azula and Zuko’s attempts to attack the Avatar.

Lu Ten used a waterbending move he learned from Iroh and dragged Zuko and Azula’s flames away from them and into his own possession. The blue and orange swirled together until they took on the typical yellow-white of Lu Ten’s own flames.

“Enough!” He yelled, sending the flames skyward where they flared into a large fire tunnel and dissolved into nothing. His shout seemed to have startled everyone, including those from the other fight, to a standstill.

Lu Ten panted as he looked around himself. Even Azula appeared to be, at the least, humoring him. Ty Lee had been trapped by Mako in what was probably meant to be a cartwheel before her hands and feet were dragged into the ground. The young earthbending girl was sat on the ground with Katara checking over her. Lu Ten assumed Ty Lee had gotten to her too.

Iroh had a scratch across his face, probably from Mai who stood with disinterest atop another of Mako’s walls.

“Enough,” Lu Ten said quieter. “No one is capturing the Avatar today nor is anyone being dragged back to the Fire Nation. We’ve all lost this round. We’re done here.”  
“As if I’ll listen to you,” Azula said, glaring at Lu Ten.

“Maybe you should,” Lu Ten said, slowly maneuvering the Avatar behind him. The boy seemed to get the picture and slowly slid himself towards his friends, while Azula’s attention remained on Lu Ten. Zuko was already safely tucked behind him and with Lu Ten’s father with him, Lu Ten was less fearful of an attack from that side. “I’m the only one will all of my fighters still standing.”

So connected was Lu Ten to his friends after so many years, that he didn’t even need to look over, nor say anything for them to know where they needed to be.  
“Oh yes, I’m sure,” Azula said, rolling her eyes. “I forgot to count your water peasant and dirt lover, as threats, probably because they aren’t. I’m taking the Avatar with me. In fact, I’m taking you all with me.”

Lu Ten widened his stance and looked her in the eye. “Then take us,” he said, challenging her. Lu Ten felt in his bones when Mako and Iroh slid in place beside him, blocking Azula’s access to any of the others.

Azula narrowed her eyes at them and smirked. “Oh,” she said, “I will.”

The first strike of lightning went towards Mako, who rolled out of the way as Lu Ten redirected it. It was only as he was in the middle of redirecting that shot, that he realized it was a diversion. The bolt sent towards Mako would have hit the ruins behind Mako, showering rubble down on the Avatar and his companions but ultimately everyone would have been fine. The second bolt Azula shot went flying out just a hair past Iroh and straight towards Lu Ten’s father.

No one had the time to react, and the bolt launched Lu Ten’s father backwards. He hit the ground with a thud. Lu Ten felt his knees drop when the last of the first bolt was launched into the air. Azula tried to make a run for it as Zuko collapsed to his knees next to his uncle.

Lu Ten stopped her, grabbing her wrist and holding it tightly until he could feel the bones under his hand creaking from the pressure. His hand got hotter and he could hear the searing sound coming from his grip. Azula looked up at him with an expression Lu Ten had never seen from her, as he yanked her back towards him. Lu Ten had never been angrier at a person in his life but as he looked at his little cousin’s terrified face, he let go.

If his father was dead, it would be the last mercy he afforded her.

Azula took a deep breath and ran off, Mai following behind her. While Azula continued running, Mai paused at the edge of the town and looked back with a pained expression on her face. It was the most emotion he had seen from the girl yet. Lu Ten followed her line of sight and saw fear splashed across Ty Lee’s face as well.

“Let her go,” Lu Ten commanded, turning to Mako. Mako stepped back slightly at whatever look was on Lu Ten’s face. He didn’t imagine it was a nice one. 

“Ty Lee,” Lu Ten clarified, at Mako’s confused face. “Let her go.”

Lu Ten didn’t look over as he walked away, but he heard the sound of shifting earth, a chill running down his spin as he did, and assumed Ty Lee had been freed. When he reached his father, he turned back and all three girls were gone.

“Lu,” Mako questioned softly, laying his hand on Lu Ten’s shoulder. “Are you okay, baby?”

Lu Ten stared blankly at his father laying still on the ground. “No,” Lu Ten answered simply, shaking off Mako’s hand.

Lu Ten didn’t need to look behind him to know the look Mako and Iroh just traded behind his back. He had been on both ends of that look before. He appreciated that his friends cared so much, but he needed to know his father would be okay before he would let either of them offer him comfort.

They were all startled by Zuko’s sudden outburst.

“Ugh!” Zuko growled. “Get away from us!”

“Zuko, I can help,” Katara offered. 

Zuko launched out an arc of fire. “Leave!” he yelled.

Lu Ten dispelled the flames before they could chase off the other children.

“Stop,” Lu Ten shouted, his voice going hoarse halfway through the word. He tried to clear his throat but it was too dry at that point. “Do you want him to live or not? You have two waterbending healers here at your aide. Do not throw away your Uncle’s health for your pride.”

Lu Ten glared down at his cousin, daring the boy to make the wrong decision regarding Lu Ten’s father’s health. Zuko glared back, having no clue just who he was dealing with. Lu Ten had only been around his family for a total of five hours since he faked his death and he was already through with their attitudes.

“You will calm down! You will let a healer look at him and you will not attack anyone here while he does so. Azula is hunting everyone here and she’s learned that, while individually she can catch us, together we pose too large a threat,” Lu Ten said, getting in Zuko’s face. “Until your backup wakes up, you might not want to piss of the people offering you help. Azula hasn’t left the area and can easily come back to pick off whoever lags behind. Which would be you. So, what’s your answer kid.”

Lu Ten didn’t end his speech as powerfully as he wanted. He had to stop himself from saying kiddo, a nickname he often called his younger cousin, and as such his last sentence trailed off abruptly. He hoped it wasn’t obvious but Iroh was looking at him curiously so he guessed he didn’t manage to play it off well.

Zuko transferred his glare to the ground. “Whatever,” he said, taking up a guarded position over his Uncle but allowing Iroh and Katara closer.

Iroh waited until it was clear Zuko wasn’t going to try and stop him, before pulling out the water from his water skin. The water coated his hands, and he dragged them from Lu Ten’s father’s head to his toes as the water glowed.

Iroh turned his head towards Katara and grabbed her hands. “You have to be careful healing wounds like this on firebenders. Waterbending heals through three pathways, as you well know, the immune pathway, the nervous pathway and the chi pathways, closely intwined but still ultimately separate. All benders derive their power from chi, but a firebender’s very essence is in their chi. The chi moves through their bodies, and builds energy until it ultimately becomes fire,” Iroh said. Katara seemed to hold on to his every word as he moved their hands together across Lu Ten’s father’s body. Lu Ten did as well having no clue that Iroh had to heal in a different manner when healing Lu Ten, himself.

“Yugoda said there are only two pathways, chi and nervous,” Katara said. “What’s the immune pathway?”

“Immune pathway helps cure illnesses but it’s also the primary pathway out bodies naturally heal through,” Iroh said, absentmindedly as he paused over a specific area. “Our ancestors discovered it out of necessity due to the amount of diseases they were suddenly exposed to. Their resistance to diseases having developed in the arctic were unprepared for tropical viruses and plagues. Before then, chi paths were thought to be the primary healing pathway as it was the most obvious pathway in the body. I’m surprised the north hasn’t found it yet.”

Iroh held Katara’s hands over the area he had paused at. Katara gasped. “It’s twisted,” Katara said.

“What?” Zuko shouted, moving towards the two waterbenders. Lu Ten was rather curious about that himself.

“What’s twisted?” Lu Ten asked. Iroh looked at him over his shoulder.

“His chi lines are twisted, or well shocked or stressed would be a better way to describe it,” Iroh answered, “and as I was trying to explain earlier, healing a firebender’s chi lines with waterbending can be dangerous, as you are applying the elemental opposite to its direct source. It can stunt bending for a bit, leaving a firebender vulnerable for days after, much like chi blocking can do. It is always best to start with the immune pathways first, as it is the pathway most likely to have the answer and less likely to bring risks with it. It’s best practice to do that anyway but it’s imperative with firebenders.”

Iroh dropped Katara’s hands. “Always, and I mean always,” Iroh stressed, “use chi healing as a last resort for firebenders, even if their chi seems like it’s the most damaged. For anyone else, use the nervous pathway last, as you can do serious damage to a person’s brain with it.”

Katara nodded and watched Iroh closely as he finally started healing Lu Ten’s father. As typical of healing, Lu Ten had no clue what Iroh was actually doing other than making water glow. He placed his hand over the main wound at Lu Ten’s father’s shoulder and held it there for way longer than Lu Ten had ever seen him do.  
The wound didn’t heal, but Iroh still pulled his hand away.

“What did you do?” Lu Ten asked. “The wound is still there!”

“And it will remain there forever,” Iroh said, standing and dusting the dirt off his pants. He seemed rather discontent that it didn’t come off. Lu Ten figured if his father was still hurt, Iroh wouldn’t be so dismissive. “I was more concerned with his insides. Lightning tends to fry things. I was making sure it didn’t fry him. I healed the damage surrounding his chi paths, but he will have to get those back in order himself. I’m sure he will manage just find.”

“Why isn’t he awake?” Zuko demanded, looking at Iroh with anger.

“I just told you why,” Iroh said, with his head tilted. Lu Ten understood Zuko’s frustration. Iroh sometimes just said things in ways he understood, uncaring if others understood as well.

“His chi still needs to be realigned,” Lu Ten answered, when it appeared that Iroh wasn’t going to clarify himself. “He will wake when his body does so.”

“So, what do I do then?” Zuko demanded. “You said they would heal him so that my Uncle and I could leave, and I wouldn’t have to travel alone with Azula still out there. So, now I have to do it anyway? What was the point of letting you help then?”

“I did heal him,” Iroh grumbled. “Sorry, it wasn’t to your standards.”

“Well,” Lu Ten said, “You could always continue to stay with us until he wakes up.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Sokka said, butting into the conversation. “He’s not coming with us!”

“Who said anything about him going with you?” Mako asked, in confusion. “We invited him to come with us.”

“Um,” Sokka said, pointing at Iroh. “He promised to train my sister when she figured out his stupid riddle, and Aang needs a firebending teacher eventually, and he’s picked your friend.”

“He doesn’t need an earthbending teacher anymore,” said the girl Lu Ten still didn’t know the name of, glaring in Mako’s vague direction. “That’s my job now.”

Mako made a face at being addressed but didn’t say anything.

“Has she figured out my, stupid riddle, as you say?” Iroh asked.

“We all have the same roots and we are all branches of the same tree,” Katara said, as if quoting someone. “We are all living together, even if most folks don’t act like it. Cultural and bending divides are not as stark as people may first believe.”

“Alright,” Iroh said, his eyes narrowed, “who told you that?”

“How do you know I didn’t figure it out on my own?” Katara demanded.

Lu Ten, Mako and Iroh just stared at her until she deflated.

“A swamp bender told me,” she admitted, sheepishly.

“Yeah,” Iroh said, “I suppose they would have figured that out along the way to where they ended up too. You still cheated, and I’m not sure you fully understand what you just said to me but I guess, since we appear to all be trying to hide as of now, I have a bit of free time.”

Katara launched forward and hugged Iroh, as Iroh grumbled, “Only a bit of free time!”

“And what about you, Hotman? Are you on board?” Aang questioned. Lu Ten’s eyes went wide at the term. His grandfather hadn’t even used that term.

“Hotman?” Lu Ten asked. “No one says Hotman anymore, at least not outside of cheesy pickup lines.”

“Hey Hotman,” Mako said, sliding his arms around Lu Ten’s waist, “wanna get fiery with me?”

He planted a kiss on the side of Lu Ten’s nose, which crinkled.

Iroh laughed. He looked Lu Ten up and down suggestively, before fanning his face. “Is it hot in here or is it just you, Hotman?” Iroh said, dodging the swipe Lu Ten made at him. Lu Ten couldn’t reach with Mako still firmly wrapped around him.

“You two are the actual worst,” Lu Ten said, turning back to Aang. “You need to learn earthbending first then, if I’m still around, I’ll teach you.”

Aang’s shoulder’s slumped. “I guess that works,” he said with a pout.

“I want you to teach me too,” Zuko said, rejoining the conversation.

“What why?” Lu Ten asked, at the same time Sokka shouted, “You can’t teach him anything!”

“I want to learn lightning bending. I won’t be defenseless against Azula like this again,” Zuko said.

“You really can’t teach him that!” Sokka said.

“Maybe,” Lu Ten said, seeing an opportunity to seal their temporary cease fire, “but you have to come with us.”

Zuko debated, as Sokka continued kicking up a fuss that no one listened to.

“Fine,” Zuko said, “but as soon as Uncle is better, we’re leaving.”

“Fine by me,” Lu Ten said.

“Alright,” Aang said, directing the group towards his bison. “Appa’s a little tired, and this is a lot of people so he may move a bit slow.”

Aang bounced onto the bison’s head as the rest of the group climbed on by the tail. Lu Ten still wasn’t too sure about the creature but gave little resistance when Mako grabbed his hand and dragged him up.

“Training in the morning,” Iroh said as Katara set off a session of yawning from all the kids, including Zuko. “You all are too tired now.”

“I’m not going to argue,” the earthbender said.

“I’m sorry,” Lu Ten said to her, finally tired of not knowing her name. “I never got your name.”

“Toph Beifong,” the girl, Toph, responded. “Don’t you forget it.”

Iroh and Mako chuckled and Lu Ten looked between the two. The girl was certainly confidant, Lu Ten would give her that. Lu Ten also noticed something else about her now that he saw her up close. He looked to Mako and Iroh in curiosity but the two just nodded back at him.

So, she was blind. How interesting.

They settled down in a random canyon for the night. The kids dropped and slept in a pile together outside while Zuko and his Uncle took up residence as far away as possible.

Iroh started setting up their tent, their group having only lost a little sleep over Lu Ten’s kidney stone that morning. Mako cooked dinner for them, which was finished by the time the tents were up. 

Lu Ten turned to offer Zuko some food but he had already fallen asleep next to Lu Ten’s father.

Lu Ten and Mako went to turn in for the night. Lu Ten looked at Iroh before entering the tent. “Are you coming?” Lu Ten asked.

“In a bit,” Iroh said, not looking at him. “I didn’t get to do my usual morning yoga routine today and after that fight I want to at least work through a few before going to sleep or I’m going to lock up,” Iroh replied.

“Are you sure?” Lu Ten asked. He was worried Iroh’s hesitance to join them in the tent was due to them having sex the night before. Lu Ten paused. It really had only been the night before, it felt like it had been days ago, due to all that happened today.

He didn’t notice Iroh get up until he was standing in front of him and lifting on his tiptoes to plant a kiss on Lu Ten’s cheek. “I’m fine, and before you ask, I don’t regret anything,” Iroh said, smirking. “I really don’t regret anything, but my back is killing me from the moves I put it through today without stretching this morning and I won’t sleep until I work them back out.”

“Okay,” Lu Ten replied, ducking into the tent. He shot one last look at his father to check his breathing before closing the tent flaps.

“You okay?” Mako asked, sitting up on his knees behind where Lu Ten just sat. He wrapped his arms around Lu Ten’s neck and squished his face against Lu Ten’s.  
“Not really,” Lu Ten said, staring of into space. “Mako?”

“Yeah,” Mako whispered against his face.

“Can you fuck me until I can’t think about anything else?” Lu Ten asked, desperately.

“Not advisable with children outside the tent,” Mako joked. “You aren’t exactly quiet.”

“Please,” Lu Ten begged, feeling a deep ache in his chest. “I just need to not think about what just happened.”

“Lu,” Mako said, as he pulled Lu Ten’s hair loose from its tie, “you know it’s not a good idea to have sex in a headspace like this. Iroh only says so all the time.”

“I know,” Lu Ten said, sighing. It didn’t stop how worked up he was over everything. His brain wouldn’t shut off and was running every horrible possibility through his head.

Mako sighed too. He leaned back to dig through his bag, tossing something to the ground nearby, before pushing Lu Ten down on his back. 

He rucked Lu Ten’s tunic up, until Lu Ten got the picture and pulled it over his head. Mako leaned down to kiss Lu Ten deeply before trailing kissed slowly down Lu Ten’s body, pausing to blow a raspberry on Lu Ten’s stomach.

Lu Ten laughed slightly and pushed him away. Mako laughed too, as he pretended to fight his way back to Lu Ten’s stomach. Lu Ten let him and rather than blowing another raspberry, Mako instead licked from his belly button to the seam of his pants.

When he reached the line of Lu Ten’s pants, he pulled them, and his under cloth, down and off. Lu Ten tried to wrap his legs around Mako’s waist, figuring Mako was about to have sex with him regardless of what he said earlier. 

Mako stopped him, grabbing his legs and lifting them higher until they rested on Mako’s shoulders. Lu Ten was slightly confused, up until Mako slid to his stomach and slipped his mouth around Lu Ten’s cock.

Lu Ten leaned back and groaned, having not expected the swift movement. Lu Ten was too big for Mako to take too far without hurting himself, but soon his slick and warm hand was wrapping around the length he couldn’t get in his mouth.

Lu Ten’s breathing picked up as Mako worked him over. He bucked up when Mako pulled back lightly to lick slowly over the head. Mako grabbed his hip and held it down.

“Don’t choke me,” Mako warned, tapping Lu Ten lightly on his thigh in mock reprimand.

“Sorry,” Lu Ten whispered, breathlessly.

Mako hummed before leaning back in. After a few more minutes under Mako’s mouth, Lu Ten tapped Mako’s shoulder. His boyfriend didn’t like when Lu Ten came in his mouth, accident or not, so Lu Ten had developed a way to warn him.

Mako pulled back, licking across the head again before picking up pace with his hand.

Lu Ten came across his own chest. He laid back, as his orgasm washed over him and his heart beat hard in his ears. His whole body relaxed at the rush of hormones through his body. Mako cleaned him up and set him right, before laying down next to him.

“What was that for?” Lu Ten asked. Mako had said no to sex, so Lu Ten was slightly surprised by the semi change of heart. “Do you want me to, uh, get that for you?”  
Lu Ten gestured to Mako’s own slowly flagging erection but Mako shook his head.

“Nah, I’m good. That was for you, you were too worked up,” Mako said, grabbing the hand Lu Ten had gestured towards him with and laced their fingers together. “I figured that would at least calm you down enough to sleep.”

“Thank you,” Lu Ten said, pulling Mako into a kiss. He made a face as he pulled back. “Your face smells weird.”

Mako looked at him in offense. “Yeah, it smells like your sweaty balls, because that’s what they were just next to! What you think you smelled great down there after walking through the desert, working through a kidney stone and fighting a bunch of people? No, Lu Ten, you smell gross down there and your dick tasted like sweat but I sucked you off anyway and my only response is, your face smells weird,” Mako said, using an obnoxious voice when he quoted Lu Ten.

“What did I just walk in on?” Iroh asked, a weird look on his face as he kneeled in the tent entrance.

“Lu Ten being an ungrateful sex partner,” Mako said, as Lu Ten replied, “Mako having a meltdown over my apparently sweaty balls.”

“Right,” Iroh said, looking between them, “You know how I said I didn’t regret having sex with you two last night? I changed my mind, you two are weird.”

“That’s not funny,” Lu Ten said at the same time as Mako.

“And now you two are that couple who say the same thing all the time,” Iroh said. “What have I gotten myself into?”

“Oh, shut up,” Mako said, throwing a towel at Iroh.

“Ew,” Iroh said, throwing it across the tent. “Why would you throw that at me? It has sex fluids on it!”

Lu Ten buried his head in his hands as he started laughing. Mako and Iroh continued bickering back and forth, but Lu Ten suddenly felt a lot better about today.

“I love you guys,” Lu Ten said out of the blue.

Mako and Iroh paused and looked at each other.

“Love you, too,” Iroh said, as Mako pulled Lu Ten into a kiss and whispered the same into his mouth. His face still smelled bad, but Lu Ten knew better than to comment again.

Lu Ten easily fell asleep that night, with Mako laid on top of him and Iroh tucked into his side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NOTE: This story is going on a temporary hiatus for the next two to three weeks as I try to get the second arc of the story in order. 
> 
> The chapters are told in a non-linear manner, meaning the events overlap so they need to all be written at the same time, least something in one, changes something in the other. Chapter 7 and 8 are fully finished while chapter 10 is half written. Chapter 9, 11 and 12 still need to be written but chapter 12 isn't a concern as it's not one of the overlapping chapters. Once I get the two and a half chapters written, I will start posting again.
> 
> Sorry, but I figured you all would like a coherent story rather than a jumbled mess. I'll post a link on my Tumblr the week I start updating again, but it should be either 23 Aug or 30 Aug.
> 
> You guys are awesome and again, sorry for the hiatus.


	7. No Water in the Desert -Iroh

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Iroh teaches Katara Southern Style bending and how mixing elements has shaped the Southern bending practice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, long time no see...
> 
> There aren't really any warnings here so have fun.

Iroh woke up to the sunshining in his eyes. Considering that he had gone to sleep in a tent, that was rather concerning. He squinted his eyes open and realized the sun was shining through a hole in the top of the tent. He supposed he could consider himself lucky that it hadn’t rained the night before, that would have been a worse way to find the hole.

He stretched his arms high above his head, before flinching as a finger dug into his ribs. He reached out and blindly smacked in Lu Ten’s direction. The other man just laughed.

Iroh just shook his head as he slipped on his mask, before leaving the tent. His sixteen-year-old grandfather sat wide awake next to his still unconscious uncle, off to the side. Iroh tried to ignore him, even as Zuko glared harshly in his direction. Iroh would just check on him later, when Lu Ten was up and about to run interference.

Until then, Iroh took to his morning yoga routine a good distance away from the camp. He was only a few moves into it when someone suddenly joined him. Iroh saw their shadow fall over the ground in front of him and bent his head slightly to see Katara standing next to him.

“Can I join you?” She asked.

“Uh, sure?” Iroh replied, going back to his stretches.

Katara did her own warm up, but soon after it became clear she was trying to mimic what Iroh was doing. Iroh contemplated doing an extremely advanced move to throw her off but in the end, he decided against it and just let the young girl copy him. She was able to keep up rather well, and at least didn’t injure herself like Lu Ten always did.

“You do know yoga isn’t needed for waterbending right?” Iroh asked when the two were done.

“Of course, I do,” Katara replied, “but flexibility helps.”

Iroh narrowed his eyes at her slightly before moving on. It wasn’t worth it to figure out what she was doing. She followed in step behind him the entire way back to the main campsite.

Iroh plopped down next to the small fire pit Lu Ten had set up the night before. He had also been nice enough to light it this morning, even though he clearly went back to the tent as soon as he did. Katara didn’t even hesitate to sit closely next to him. Iroh looked at her but she just looked up at him innocently.

Iroh huffed before getting started on a light breakfast. Katara was apparently going to demand training today, Aang was probably also going to train today and Lu Ten had been sick all day yesterday. A light, but hearty meal was definitely in order.

Iroh stalled before adding salt, recalling Uncle Iroh’s theory on why Lu Ten got sick. He placed the salt back down and instead threw in a bit of lemon juice for flavoring instead. Hopefully the lemon would further help Lu Ten’s stomach settle.

“Why did you leave out the seasonings?” Katara asked, frowning down at the pot.

“Uh, salt doesn’t agree with one of my friends,” Iroh explained. “I have to use it in moderation now, and so soon after he got sick, I’m not going to test it.”

Katara nodded, continuing to watch him cook. “You know cooking has nothing to do with waterbending either right?” Iroh asked.

“I know that,” Katara huffed. “I’m just watching you.”

“Okay,” Iroh said, holding his hands up. If she wanted to watch him do basically nothing, that was her decision.

He did stop her when she tried to follow him into his tent. He had no clue the state of dress, Mako or Lu Ten were in and some places didn’t need fourteen-year-olds poking their heads in. Iroh could see Katara’s shadow outline on the tent the entire time he was inside trying to convince Lu Ten to wake Mako up.

Katara was, apparently, not going to leave her post outside their tent. Lu Ten smirked at him in amusement and took mercy on him by waking up Mako. Mako wasn’t pleased but the two, masks in place, followed him out of the tent, eventually.

Katara immediately took up following him like a lost turtle-duck again.

“Let, me eat first,” Iroh begged, before sitting back down next to the fire.

“Sure,” Katara said, though she stared at him the whole time. Iroh really wished her friends would wake up to distract her but they were all still sound asleep.

The meal was rather quiet, even as Zuko cautiously made his way over to get food. He quickly retreated once he had some but at least he wasn’t being entirely anti-social.

Iroh put his empty bowl down before walking slowly over to Zuko. Zuko watched him approach with caution but he didn’t tense up until Iroh felt a presence at his back. Katara was following him again and Zuko didn’t want her near his uncle.

“Katara,” Iroh said, turning to the young girl, “I am literally begging you to stop following me. I’m just checking his vitals. I’m not healing him. There is no waterbending going to happen in the next few minutes. I’m not going to suddenly start teaching without you around, and I’m not going to bolt.”

“Right,” Katara said, sheepishly grabbing the back of her head. She quickly retreated, and Zuko somewhat relaxed as Iroh continued his approach. 

Iroh ignored the odd commotion going on behind him as the other children woke up, though Zuko glared in the direction of the noise. Uncle Iroh’s pulse was still steady, his breathing was normal, his reflex reactions were slightly slow. Iroh was slightly concerned by that, but after being hit with lightning it was expected. He would only really be concerned about it if it didn’t fade by the time he woke up.

He nodded at Zuko before standing and walking back to the fire. He didn’t stop, and just kept walking. “Well, Katara,” Iroh said, “are you coming?”

“Yes,” Katara answered, launching to her feet and following quickly after him.

Iroh shook his head but lead her a little way down the canyon, in the opposite direction he saw Mako, Aang and Toph wander in. He had to wonder how they managed to drag Mako into their training.

“Where are we going?” Katara asked, pointing behind her. “There was a water source back that way.”

“There are water sources here,” Iroh said, coming to a stop in the middle of a dry barren landscape. At least that’s what Katara probably saw.

Iroh saw the small cloud overhead. He saw the small bushes and the patches of grass here and there. He felt the bubbling of an underground spring right below his feet.

“I asked you when we first met to find me a water source. Your friend was quick to say spit but you eventually named clouds,” Iroh said, pointing up.

Katara followed his line of sight to the cloud. “Do you want me to bend it?” Katara asked.

“No,” Iroh said. “I want you to understand. Our people traveled across great distances to get to the South Pole and build a home. Some, as you may have met, stayed in other areas that were beneficial to them such as the swamp. No matter where they ended up, they all discovered two things, this is one of them. There is no water in the desert. Except all the places that there is.”

“What?” Katara asked, tilting her head. 

“This place looks barren and empty, the last place any waterbender would wish to fight, but should that waterskin fail you, just what would you do to protect yourself?” Iroh asked.

“The cloud,” Katara said.

“And the grass, and that tree and the water trickling so slowly under our feet,” Iroh continued.

“The grass?” Katara asked.

“Yes,” Iroh replied.

Iroh touched the ground at his feet, the sparse grass pricking at his fingertips. He could feel the water moving through the plant, being drawn up from deep within the ground. There was an aquifer under them, where the pond Iroh had ignored must have been bubbling up from. The soil here was pretty dry, but deep in the ground, where these roots were reaching it was damp and inviting.

Iroh drew the water out of the grass, watching as it slowly turned brown before returning it. The water glowed faintly as the grass slowly came back to life under his hand. That had been one of the most amazing memories of Rozin’s to stumble upon, before that Iroh had no clue you could heal a plant.

The glowing drew Katara’s attention.

“Wait,” she said, bending down to get a closer look at the grass, “what did you just do?”

Iroh smiled at her, and instead of answering stood up and drew the water out of the grass around him. Katara looked at Rozin in surprised.

“But the grass,” Katara said, her face dropping from amazement to sad, “you killed it.”

“What if,” Iroh whispered, “I told you it wasn’t dead.”

“What do you mean,” Katara asked, tilting her head.

“Plants have states of dormancy that they go into when stressed,” Iroh explained. “It’s not dead, yet. The key is to return the water when you’re done with it. While not required, you can help it along with a small healing boost, but the plant will eventually return to normal on its own without it, if need be.”

Iroh dropped the water back down onto the grass and helped it back towards the root system. He placed his hand in the center of the dry spot and the ground lit up with light. When he stood back up the grass had returned to its previous green color.

“Never,” Iroh said, looking Katara in the eye, “and I mean never, take more than you need. If it’s a matter of life and death, then by all means take everything, but otherwise, take only what you need or the plant will die and no amount of returning the water or healing will save it. The same goes for what your friend said about sweat. You need your fluids, only take what you need, if that’s the only option you have.”

Katara nodded seriously and turned to the grass.

“Whoa,” Iroh said, guiding her back towards a smaller and healthier patch of grass. “Let’s not stress that patch of grass out any further, we can start small over here.”

Katara sat on the ground with him. He placed his hand over a patch of grass, Katara following his movement, then clinched his fingers inwards drawing the water up. With the water coating his fingers he rested his palm over the dormant grass and slowly urged it back to life. 

Katara copied him, the water lifting from the grass but when she went to return it, it remained a stressed out brown. Iroh quickly fixed it for her and had her try again. This time the grass turned somewhat green again but Iroh called it good enough for now.

“See,” Iroh said, as they continued to practice. They kept at it for a good while, long enough that Iroh started to grow concerned over the state of the grass. They called it quits after that, Iroh moving on to the other topic he had quizzed Katara over.

“The next thing I’m going to explain to you is going to involve a small story,” Iroh said. “I’m sure you’ll be familiar with a few of the characters.”

Katara sat across from him attentively.

“About, let’s say sixty or so years ago, two young women got tired of living in the Northern Water Tribe, so they stole a boat and they left. Their names were Kanna and Tamia, your grandmother, and my own.”

Iroh specifically didn’t bring up Hama, though admittedly the woman already lived in the South Pole at the time.

Katara gasped, her eyes going wide. “My Gran Gran never told me she was from the Northern Tribe, I found out when I met Yugoda and Pakku, but she did mention Tamia, though not by name. She told me she had a sister taken in the raids when I lost my mother as a way to let me know she understood such a loss. It helped a lot having her to talk to. I know they weren’t blood related but they were sisters as far as the Tribe was concerned,” Katara explained.

Iroh nodded at what Katara said, Tamia had told Rozin something similar.

“My grandma,” Iroh said, still stumbling on calling the woman that sometimes, “told me that when they landed, they told the Southern Tribe they were sisters. Though not by blood, the two had become inseparable after their voyage. They made a very dangerous but worthwhile decision that brought them face to face with many dangers as they carefully maneuvered through enemy waters. The lessons they learned, are lessons that have defined them, or at least, I know they defined my grandma. They faced tremendous odds to reach a place of freedom, and they beat those odds. That’s the story of the Southern Water Tribe, Katara, the Fire Nation wanted us gone, and we are still here. It was one of the few things that brought Tamia comfort in the Fire Nation.” 

Iroh tumbled awkwardly over the topic. Sometime he still felt like he didn’t have a right to this history.

“The trek across the world, as I’m sure you’ve found, is a very difficult one to make. Once our people would make it many times in a year, but slowly over the course of the war the number of voyages dropped, until there were none. This voyage played a heavy role in the cultural differences between the Northern and Southern Water Tribes.” Iroh explained. His Gran Gran had told him these things when he was little and would sit in her lap as she told him all sorts of tales of the tribes. He had taken each and everyone of them to heart, but particularly this one.

“Some voyages, went along the east coast of the world,” Iroh continued, quoting his Gran Gran the best he could, “traveling along the west coast of the Earth Kingdom and picking up traditions and cultures as they went. Others, island hopped through the Fire Nation as well as the Western and Southern Air Temples. Others still traveled down along the East Coast of the Earth Kingdom and came into contact with the Eastern Air Temple. And then some traveled down the Cold-Water River, through the Serpent’s Bay and down into Chameleon Bay. They met the Northern Air Temple and the inland of the Earth Kingdom. Some of the braver explorers trekked through the desert and over mountainous terrain. Arguably they brought the most unusual of techniques with them, but regardless of which way they came, they learned and grew as they went.”

“Fifty years ago, maybe more, the Southern Water Tribe had a mixed bag of culture that built with every new person that landed on the shores. I’m not sure there was a single culture on this planet we call home that hasn’t had the Water Tribe traveling through it at least once,” Iroh said. “The North has taught you structure, and while your travels may have taught you some creativity, Southern style waterbending will teach you much more,” Iroh emphasized.

“I’m sure you have this idea in your head,” Iroh continued, “many benders do, that the only form of bending you need to concern yourself with is waterbending. This is blatantly wrong. In order to better understand your own element, you will need to understand others.”

Katara looked confused. “That sounds more like something Aang would need to know,” Katara said.

“You would think,” Iroh replied, “but remember what you learned about how the world is connected. Waterbending, more than the other elements, is the easiest to adapt. Waterbending pulls from positive and negative Jing. This means you turn you opponent’s attacks into you own attacks. Some believe that fire is water’s natural opposite and while, elementally that’s true, energy wise, our more natural opposite would be earth.”

“Earth uses neutral Jing,” Iroh explained. “It waits for the proper moment to strike, building up and launching a stronger attack because of it. Waterbending is more dynamic than this, constantly moving, back and forth. Air and fire on the other hands, are elements that lend themselves well to a waterbender. Air is negative Jing, avoiding and dogging. Only striking out when needed or an opportunity presents itself. Fire is positive Jing, powerful, forceful and dynamic. Like water, fire doesn’t stop moving, unlike water, fire only moves in one direction, out.”

Iroh stood up, Katara following him.

He pulled the water from his waterskin, before standing with his feet spread shoulder width apart. The move was one of the few earthbending moves Iroh had been able to adapt to waterbending. Truthfully the Southern Style only had one move itself that was earthbending based but Iroh felt it better to teach Katara all the moves he knew. It started with a waterbending form, pulling the water into a wave. It worked slightly different without a real water source but the results stayed the same, if slightly smaller.

With the small wall of water formed in front of him, Iroh paused before turning his foot slightly so it was parallel to his other foot. With his balanced firmly rooted, Iroh pushed the wall of water away from him. It was still liquid, but despite this it slammed into Katara as if it was ice.

The water knocked Katara flat on her back before dropping at her feet and forming a mud puddle.

“What?” Katara asked, quickly regaining her feet. “That wasn’t a normal wave.”

“That wasn’t a wave at all,” Iroh replied. “When waterbending, forming a wave and sending it towards someone means that the water will pass over them, soaking them to the bone and maybe knocking them back. This move is based on earthbending. It works more like a rock. Liquid water, held so tightly together by the bender, it acts like ice without being ice.”

Iroh pulled his water back from the ground. “Earthbenders,” Iroh said, thinking of Mako’s own stubbornness, “are not ones easily argued with. They tend to stand their ground more than other elements. It’s one reason the Fire Nation has gained so little ground here in the Earth Kingdom.”

“You being another reason,” Katara interjected, smiling blindingly at Iroh. There was a light blush on her face.

Iroh’s eyes went wide as Katara’s behavior over the past day slid into place. Iroh took a deep breath, every bit of his willpower went into not canceling the lesson. It was fine. Kids got inappropriate crushes on older authority figures all the time. He could handle his, fourteen-year-old, Gran Gran having a crush on him. It was fine.

He would just, scream internally about it.

“Yeah,” Iroh replied, slowly, trying to shake himself of the weird realization. “Anyway, the key to this move is to do the exact opposite that a waterbender should typically do. You need to follow your movements into the wave but instead of launching out with the built-up energy, you pause, gather your strength and hold the water together. This is one instance where the water cannot be launched out and let loose. You need to keep ahold of it until the move is over.”

Katara nodded.

“Before we start practicing, I’m going to show you two other moves, one fire and the other air. Then we can work on all three until you get the basics of the other elements down. Okay?” Iroh asked.

Katara nodded again.

Iroh stepped back to gain more room. He thought for a moment which firebending form to choose before deciding on an aerial. Waterbending didn’t have very many aerials so it would be something new for Katara to learn.

Iroh started with a typical waterbending form, moving the water around himself in a way he would have had he been surrounded. This form already had a roll to it, but a roll was different than a flip and he had to move quicker in order to get the proper momentum. He launched up and flipped forward bringing his foot, and the water, crashing down on the rock across from him as if it was an enemy.

“I’ve seen Zuko do that move before,” Katara said, quietly.

“Yeah, it’s a firebending basic. One of the first aerials a firebender will learn,” Iroh explained.

He then reset himself. This move was entirely airbending, adapted to waterbending and was a form Rozin was taught, rather than one Iroh and his friends had discovered themselves. Though Iroh had seen airbenders do it before.

Iroh pulled the water from the ground around the rock in a typical waterbender fashion. Then he rolled, dragging the water with him. He rolled back up onto his feet, landing on the one leg before leaning back. The water was gathered at his center, in front of his stomach, but as he leaned back, he extended his leg and arm. The water followed, launching in two separated directions.

The water launched with his foot, slammed into a tree, leaving a dent in the bark, while the water he launched from his hand sliced though a small bush, leaving broken and cut off branches behind.

“Now that move, I haven’t seen before. I wonder why Aang doesn’t use it,” Katara said to herself. Iroh shrugged in response.

“Right,” Iroh said. “Now it’s your turn. Let’s start with air first, as it should be one of the easier ones to pick up on.”

Katara nodded, as Iroh slowly walked her through each step. Katara managed the steps well enough without the water but when adding the element to the movement, the water dropped.

After watching Katara drop the water halfway through the move several times, Iroh finally realized what was wrong.

“There’s no attack until the end,” Iroh said. “This is a defensive maneuver. You’re trying to use positive Jing all the way through here and you can’t. Let’s try this a different way. I’m going to attack you. You take the water from me and attack back.”

Iroh launched a simple water whip in Katara’s direction, she managed to get the water around with her. As she spun on her leg and leaned back to launch the water, it dropped down on top of her instead.

Iroh tried really hard to stifle his laugh at that but he apparently didn’t. Katara blushed and growled in frustration.

“Come on,” Iroh said, pulling the water from Katara’s outfit. “Let’s try again. I know it’s hard, it logically works backwards from how waterbending moves works, but it does work. I promise.”

Katara huffed, and Iroh flung the water at her again. She rolled, the water following her, before getting back up on one foot and gathering the water at her stomach as she leaned back. She launched out with other her foot and her hand, but the water only followed her hand and slammed into Iroh.

Iroh slammed into the wall behind him. Katara gasped but Iroh only laughed.

“I suppose I deserved that,” Iroh said, pulling the water from his own clothing that time.

“I’m so sorry, are you okay?” Katara asked.

“Perfectly fine,” Iroh said, with a smile that sent another blush across Katara’s face. “Maybe we should have started with waterbending with your feet. I forget that it’s not a common practice to do so. Airbenders, firebenders and earthbenders bend from their feet all the time, so if we are going to mix elements you should probably learn that, too. Otherwise the firebending move I showed you won’t work either.”

“Bending with my feet?” Katara asked looking down at her shoe covered foot.

“Yep,” Iroh said, already in the process of pulling his shoes off. With his bare toes now on the grass, Iroh kicked up, drawing the water from the grass with his movement. When his kick reached as high as it would comfortably go, he dropped the water back on to the grass. He didn’t bother healing it that time, it would be fine.

Katara looked at him skeptically before pulling off her own shoes. Iroh dumped the water from his waterskin onto the ground. He’d refill it from the pond nearby later, as this water was starting to get really dirty.

“Let’s see if we can get you pulling water from the ground with your feet, then we can try again,” Iroh said.

Katara nodded as she slowly lifted her foot. Nothing happened and Iroh frowned. He tried to think back to when he had learned it. It was before he, Lu Ten and Mako had trained together, which meant it was something he had pulled from Rozin.

He racked his brain until a memory resurfaced. A young Rozin, maybe six or seven was stood in a small creek behind his house. Tamia, who looked unsurprisingly exactly like Iroh’s actual Gran Gran, stood next to him as the two kicked at the water. Tamia was actually waterbending with her foot, launching the water up and bringing it back down herself, but Rozin was simply kicking the water like normal. The water splashed up and down of its own accord.

Then something different happened. Rozin’s foot experienced a slight drag in the water and when his foot hit the surface, it wasn’t with a splash, it was with a spout of water following his foot’s movement. He wasn’t able to bring it down the same way Tamia did and as such the water launched up high and splashed back down on top of the two waterbenders. Rozin looked over at Tamia with slight trepidation, but Tamia merely laughed and told him to try again.

It was a memory that mirrored another memory of Iroh’s own. Though for Iroh there was no creak, nor was there water, and he was at least ten years older than Rozin. Instead he was in the training gardens with his Great Aunt Azula. She was walking him through the motions of lightening bending. Lightening crackled at her own fingertips as she actually worked through the motions next to Iroh who merely mimicked her without the actual element at play.

Iroh’s brow had furrowed as he tried to reach the mental state needed to bend lightening. He must have finally managed it, as lightening went shooting out the end of his finger tip about the time his grandfather had walked onto the grounds and directly into its path.

Iroh’s eyes had gone wide but his grandfather quickly redirected it. His grandfather and Great Aunt proceeded to get into an argument that Aunt Azula ultimately won, when she told her brother he shouldn’t have been wandering through the training grounds without checking first. His grandfather had ultimately congratulated Iroh on lightening bending before leaving, while Aunt Azula soon had Iroh right back into training.

At the end of training she ruffled his hair and told him he was fairly impressive. Iroh walked around with his head high for a few days after that, as coming from Aunt Azula, that was extremely high praise.

“I have an idea,” Iroh said, grabbing his shoes. He didn’t put them on, simply leading Katara barefoot over to the pond they had seen earlier.

“This was how I learned to waterbend with my feet,” Iroh said, placing his feet into the pond. Katara followed his lead.

“Just kick up like this,” Iroh said, kicking the water normally. “Once you get a feel for the motion, start trying to pull the water with you until you manage to do this.” Iroh kicked his foot, but rather than shattering the surface tension, the water slowly rose form the pond before following Iroh’s foot back down.

Katara made a face before kicking at the water once. Iroh imagined she felt rather silly as she turned back to him in question. Iroh motioned for her to continue. She did so, until Aang came storming up to them, looking slightly put out.

“You okay, kid?” Iroh asked. Aang stalled at seeing him, clearly having only been searching for Katara. 

“Not really,” Aang said. “Earthbending is just so hard! I can’t get it right and Toph keeps yelling at me! Your friend isn’t helping.”

Aang sat at the bank of the pond pouting as he watched Katara. Slowly his upset faded into confusion. “Uh, Katara, why are you kicking the water?” Aang asked.

Katara immediately stopped and blushed.

“She’s trying to learn to bend with her feet. It’s not something waterbenders do. They are really the only element that lacks footbending, at least the way the Northern Tribe teaches it,” Iroh explained.

“Oh, cool!” Aang said. “I never noticed. Can I try?”

Iroh shrugged, not really caring either way. Iroh kind of whished he hadn’t though because after Aang immediately managed to bend the water with his foot, Katara seemed extremely put out.

“Yes,” Iroh said, quickly trying to heal wounded feelings. “I suppose as an airbender you would already know how to bend with your feet.”

Aang huffed. “I just wish I already knew how to earthbend,” Aang said.

“You know this block you're having is only temporary, right?” Katara said, turning to face Aang. Iroh was impressed at the advice, and also at the fact that Katara gave it so easily to someone else, when she was the one who needed to hear it.

“I don't want to talk about it,” Aang said. Iroh knew that was a lie, he wouldn’t keep bringing it up otherwise.

“You do realize that's the problem, don't you?” Katara asked. “If you face this issue instead of avoiding it–”

Aang cut her off. “I know, I know, I know, I know!” Aang yelled. “I get it, all right? I need to face it head on like a rock, but I just can't do it. I don't know why I can't, but I can't.”

“Earthbending is a hard element to master, even for earthbenders. The first time Mako-” Iroh paused, his eyes going wide as he realized he just gave Mako’s name away.

“Mako?” Aang asked, looking at him. “Is that your earthbender friends name?”

Iroh sighed and nodded. “Don’t tell anyone okay? The first time Mako tried to earthbend, he ended up flinging himself rather than the rock. Bending is all about mentality and sadly for you, earth and air? Are complete opposites. One is about constant movement and never being where the enemy expects, while the other is about standing your ground and waiting until the enemy opens themselves to attack. One is extremely detached, while the other is firmly planted. One lends itself to adaptability, while the other lends itself to stability. There is one thing they have in common though.” Iroh said.

“What?” Katara and Aang asked together.

“Waiting for the right moment to act,” Iroh replied, feeling for a moment like his grandfather, giving out sage wisdom to small children. Though hopefully he was slightly less awkward about it. “Your moment will come Aang, and when it does, it will unlock a great potential, just wait for it.”

Iroh was talking to Aang, but he was staring at Katara as he said it. She looked down at the pond in contemplation, before kicking out.

The water splashed up and back down, she kicked it again and a third time.

“You can do it Sifu Katara, I know you can,” Aang said.

The next time Katara kicked up, Iroh knew she had it. Her foot stalled in the water and when it lifted up, it came up slowly and under her control. Katara’s smile was blinding, even as the water splashed back down with her excitement.

“I did it!” she shouted.

“You did it!” Iroh shouted back, smiling himself. He turned to Aang but was interrupted before he could say anything.

“I know, I know, my turn,” Aang said, rolling his eyes and running back towards where Iroh assumed Toph and Mako would be, either that or the camp.

He turned around before exiting their sight and bowed to them. “Thank you Sifu Katara, thank you Master Rozin!” he said. They bowed back as he quickly ran off again.

“Now, give it another go, and afterwards I think we can call it a day,” Iroh said.

“What,” Katara asked, “but why?”

“It’s not you, Katara,” Iroh replied. “Aang just made me realize that maybe this is a lesson better shared between the elements, all the elements. Besides, when will you get another opportunity to study all three of the other bending types so closely.”

“I’m not sure I want to learn with Zuko,” Katara said.

Iroh tilted his head. “I think it would be good for all of you,” he replied.

That night around the campfire, Iroh immediately plopped himself down in Lu Ten’s lap and let the other man pet through his hair. Mako had already taken to cooking dinner, Iroh having been kept by Katara until they could no longer see properly.

Katara was now a master footbender, Iroh had declared her one himself, if only to get her to stop.

“These kids are too much. Overachievers all of them,” Iroh muttered into Lu Ten’s shoulder. Lu Ten laughed slightly before rubbing Iroh’s back.

“I think it’s cute,” Lu Ten said.

Iroh hummed. “I may have accidently told Aang your boyfriend’s name,” Iroh admitted.

Lu Ten paused. “Just don’t tell them mine,” Lu Ten said, pulling Iroh closer. Iroh nodded into his shoulder. His mask had been pushed up into his hairline but his face was safe tucked into Lu Ten’s neck.

“I want to combine lessons tomorrow,” Iroh said, loud enough for the rest of their camping companions to hear. He leaned back from Lu Ten’s shoulder, adjusting his mask, to look at the group.

Zuko was still sulking in his and his uncle’s corner. Uncle Iroh was still out for the count.

Toph and Sokka didn’t have a reaction to his announcement but Aang tilted his head while Katara looked hesitantly towards Zuko.

“I think you could all benefit from what I showed Katara today, even you Zuko,” Iroh said.

“That’s Prince Zuko, to you Water Tribe peasant,” Zuko said.

“Anyway,” Iroh replied, completely ignoring his grandfather, “It will ultimately help Aang but it will benefit all of your bending to learn to adapt to different styles.”

“What does that even mean?” Toph demanded.

“I’ll explain more tomorrow,” Iroh said. “For now, I’m eating food and going to bed. Katara, don’t follow me.”

Katara blushed slightly as her brother and Toph laughed obnoxiously and Aang pouted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want it known that Iroh knowing the things he knows about the Southern Water Tribe isn't just due to Rozin but also his own actual childhood.
> 
> Anyway, we are back in business with weekly updates and I hope you enjoyed this one as it went through five freaking drafts.


	8. Familiar Stranger -Lu Ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lu Ten deals with his cousin Zuko and his feelings on his Nation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, there aren't any warnings for this chapter save for Lu Ten discussion imperialism.

Lu Ten woke up with the sun to find himself in a very nice position. Mako was still laid out over the top of him, with his legs spread over Lu Ten’s hip and his soft hair brushing against Lu Ten’s neck. Iroh’s head was laying on the shoulder Mako wasn’t occupying.

Lu Ten pushed at his head a bit when he realized there was dried drool on his uncovered shoulder. Iroh didn’t drool often, usually only when his face was mashed up against something oddly. Lu Ten left it alone though, as it was too late to really do anything about it.

Iroh woke up a short time later. He stretched out like a content feline-hybrid and Lu Ten took the opportunity to poke the other man in the ribs. Iroh slapped his wrist in response.

Lu Ten laughed as the other man pulled on his mask and left the tent, surprisingly having slept in his clothes the night before. Iroh didn’t do that often, either, nor did he usually wear the same clothes days in a row. He must be tired.

Mako shifted slightly against him, rough fabric dragging along bare skin. Lu Ten startled when he realized he had been sleeping completely naked, while his two partners had been fully dressed. He shook the realization off and ran his hand through Mako’s hair.

The earthbender slept soundly, even as Lu Ten took to rubbing his back. He finally sat up, bundling Mako into his arms and laying him on the pallet where Iroh had previously been sleeping. He dropped a kiss on Mako’s temple before pulling on his pants and mask.

He peered out the tent, deciding to forgo his shirt when it appeared the only one outside was Katara who was swiftly making her way towards where Iroh was doing yoga, and Zuko who was determinedly watching the Avatar, even though the boy was still asleep.

Lu Ten built up the fire, throwing small kindling into the center so the fire wouldn’t sputter out before Iroh could get to it. He angled himself so he could keep an eye on the two waterbenders, though really, he was watching Iroh’s ass.

Iroh himself may not find people sexually attractive but Lu Ten wasn’t going to pretend Iroh wasn’t extremely hot. On one hand, Lu Ten was often awkwardly remined they were technically related, on the other, it was so hard to comprehend that Iroh was his younger cousin’s grandchild who was older than him. So, Lu Ten just ignored it. It didn’t make much difference in the long run, anyway and Iroh was his friend well before Lu Ten figured out he was his first cousin twice removed or something like that.

Lu Ten made his way back into the tent, smiling softly at Mako still curled up asleep. Iroh often found Mako’s tendency to sleep through anything irritating, but Lu Ten thought it was cute. He liked when his boyfriend was sleepy and soft and sweet.

Lu Ten laid back down with Mako, pulling the other man close. Even asleep, Mako cuddled tightly against Lu Ten’s chest. Sometimes Mako made Lu Ten’s heart want to beat out of his chest with affection.

He knows he freaked his boyfriend out slightly with his children question but Lu Ten couldn’t help but run fantasies like that through his brain. Even as a child Lu Ten had always been a hopeless romantic with a wedding planning journal and everything. Though he stopped sharing it with people when they made fun of him.

With Mako, Lu Ten could see an entire life lay itself down before him. Now with the addition of Iroh, it seemed even more fulfilling. He just couldn’t stop his thoughts from running off into a distant future where the three of them were free to be happy. Lu Ten had even been running marriage proposal ideas through his head. He still wasn’t sure if something Earth Kingdom or Fire Nation would fit their relationship best, he just knew, as of right now, Mako wasn’t ready.

That wasn’t a problem though. Lu Ten had waited years for Mako to love him back. He could wait until Mako felt more stable in their relationship to take that next step. He feared he might lose Mako otherwise. 

Lu Ten let his eyes drift shut at the sound of Iroh and Katara talking to each other near the fire. They were startled back open when Iroh entered the tent in a huff.  
“She keeps following me,” Iroh said, pointing at the shadow outside the tent.

Lu Ten laughed at Iroh’s misfortune.

“Can you wake Mako up so we can eat,” Iroh asked, sitting down in the tent, apparently taking as much time as he could get away with, where Katara couldn’t follow him.

“But he’s so cute like this,” Lu Ten said, burying his face in Mako’s hair. Lu Ten really was amazed at what his boyfriend could sleep through. He was basically a warm, cuddly pillow when he was asleep.

“Okay, but cute isn’t helpful and I need Mako helpful, or these kids will run all over us when they wake up,” Iroh replied.

“You wake him up then,” Lu Ten said.

“That will take forever,” Iroh said. “You can get him up in seconds.”

Lu Ten huffed but ultimately took pity on Iroh and rolled over to wake Mako up. Mako was surprisingly still asleep when Lu Ten first started planting kisses on his face but when Lu Ten leaned down to plant one on his cheek, he caught his mouth instead. Lu Ten smiled into the kiss, feeling Mako do the same.

“Morning,” Mako said, pushing Lu Ten up by his shoulder’s as he stretched himself out.

He made a squeaking, grunting noise that had a shiver moving down Lu Ten’s spine. He’s hands slid down from Lu Ten’s shoulders to his hips, his eyes catching sight of Lu Ten’s still bare chest.

Mako hummed. “Nice,” he muttered, sliding his hands back up to Lu Ten’s hair and pulling him into another kiss.

“Sexy times later,” Iroh said, leaving the tent, “breakfast now.”

Lu Ten rolled his eyes. They only had sex with Iroh once, and he was acting like they were married, or well, actually he was acting like he always did but still. One would think after getting laid twice in a short span of time, he would be less put together. 

Lu Ten didn’t know how his friends did the whole high-strung thing but the two of them wore the ability well. Between Iroh’s obsessive need to be in charge and have things go the way he wants them to go, Mako’s need to not fail at anything and keep everyone but himself safe, and both of their social awkwardness, Lu Ten didn’t understand how the two didn’t just spontaneously combust with stress.

Mako’s head slammed back onto the pallet behind him with a sigh. His eyes closed again and Lu Ten poked him to make sure he didn’t go back to sleep.

“Lovely, don’t go back to sleep,” Lu Ten said.

“That’s a new one,” Mako replied, trying to drag Lu Ten back on top of him. “Not sure I like it.”

Lu Ten pouted. “But you are lovely,” he responded.

“Weird,” Mako said, though Lu Ten wasn’t sure if he meant the nickname, the idea that he was lovely or Lu Ten, himself. Knowing Mako, it was probably all three.  
They both got dressed to follow Iroh out of the tent. Mako rubbing the sleep from his face before pulling on his mask.

Lu Ten heard Iroh begging to Katara but didn’t catch what he said. Whatever it was, Katara apparently agreed as she left him alone.

Lu Ten plopped down next to Iroh, as Mako sat next to him, leaning sleepily against him.

“Are you okay?” Lu Ten asked. “Why are you so tired?”

“I’m always sleepy,” Mako joked before seriously replying. “I just didn’t go to bed until way later than you and Ro, something kept me awake.”

Lu Ten shook his head but planted a soft kiss on Mako’s forehead, not entirely sure what was making him so clingy this morning. That was fine with him, a sleepy Mako made for an overly affectionate Lu Ten. 

Lu Ten saw his cousin slowly sneak closer and closer to the fire before he grabbed some food and retreated again, glaring at the group as he went.

Iroh followed him, and Katara followed Iroh. Zuko tensed and Iroh made Katara back off as he looked Lu Ten’s father over. Lu Ten looked away, trying not to bother Iroh too much about his father’s health and trusting him to know what he’s doing.

Shortly after Iroh walked off, Aang woke up. Lu Ten had never seen someone with so much energy in his life. Even Zuko and Azula as kids weren’t as energetic as the twelve-year-old Avatar.

“Today's the day!” Aang yelled, nearly landing on Sokka. “Can you believe it? After all that time searching for a teacher, I'm finally starting earthbending! And this place, it's perfect, don't you think? Sokka?”

Lu Ten watched in good humor as the previously asleep Water Tribe boy grumbled in response.

“Oh, you're still sleeping, huh?” Aang asked, as Sokka grumbled again. “Sorry.”

The ground shook and Lu Ten’s heartrate picked up. The rock tent Toph had made for herself last night shattered. A piece came flying towards Mako and Lu Ten. Lu Ten was about to pull them out of the way, when Mako’s arm shot out launching the rock elsewhere.

Lu Ten turned to his previously sleepy boyfriend, who was now wide awake and glaring at Toph, as she shouted out, “Good morning, earthbending student!”

“Good morning, Sifu Toph,” Aang said, bowing slightly to Toph.

“Hey,” Katara called, sounding slightly hurt, “you never called me Sifu Katara.”

Aang rubbed the back of his head slightly. “Well, if you think I should,” he said, training off awkwardly. Lu Ten shook his head at the kid’s painful courting attempts.

Sokka soon let his discontent of the continuing loud noises be heard. Lu Ten marveled at the one person on the planet who could probably out sleep Mako.

“Sorry, Snoozles, we'll do our earthbending as,” here Toph’s voice dropped to a whisper, “quietly as we can.”

Toph’s left heel slammed to the ground and Lu Ten bit his lip, knowing exactly what she was doing. Mako did it often enough himself, usually to Iroh. An earth pillar rose up underneath him and Sokka was launched into the air with a scream.

Sokka crashed to the ground with a thud that made both Lu Ten and Mako wince. He was apparently made of sterner stuff, as he soon launched back up to grumble in his friends’ faces before hopping off to find a new place to sleep.

His friends ignored his behavior. “So,” Aang started, as if Toph hadn’t just tried to kill Sokka, “what move are you going to teach me first?”

Aang clenched his right hand before stretching his arm out and bringing it down like a hammer. “Rock-a-lanche?” he asked.

Lu Ten turned to see Mako’s reaction to that. Mako was squinting at Aang in confusion.

Aang quickly moved until his left hand, now clenched, was in his right elbow. His right arm was bent upward still clenched from the first made up move he did. “The Trembler?” Aang asked, shaking all over in a way that had Lu Ten concerned.

“That’s not even,” Mako started but cut himself off as Aang kept talking.

“Oh, maybe I could learn to make a whirlpool out of land!” Aang said, stretching his arms out wide and spinning in a circle.

Mako tilted his head in a way reminiscent to Iroh. “Wait, that’s not a bad idea,” Mako said. “Remind me to ask Ro about it later.”

Lu Ten chuckled slightly, but nodded anyway.

Toph finally put a halt to Aang’s weird bending moves. “Let's start with move a rock,” she said, pushing her hands forward.

Mako laughed loudly as Aang clapped his hands together.

“Sounds good, sounds good!” Aang said, as Mako laughed even harder.

“What are you laughing at?” Toph demanded, glaring at Mako even if she couldn’t actually see him.

Mako raised his hand’s in surrender. “It was just funny, no need to get defensive about it,” Mako said.

Toph huffed.

“Do you want to come too?” Aang offered.

Mako went to answer when Toph spoke over him. “He can’t come,” she stated, turning her head away with a frown.

Mako deflated slightly at that. Lu Ten knew Mako was going to tell Aang no, but it still stung to be rejected outright by someone, and Mako hadn’t even done anything to Toph, other than exist.

Aang seemed to pick up on Mako’s hurt feelings.

“Aw, come on Toph,” Aang said. “The more the merrier right? It won’t hurt to have him with us.”

“No, it’s fine,” Mako said, but Lu Ten could clearly hear the lie in his voice. Maybe Lu Ten had been wrong, maybe Mako had wanted to take Aang up on his offer.

Toph’s arms dropped from where they had been tightly crossed over her chest and her shoulder’s slumped slightly.

“You can come if you want, I guess,” Toph said. It was the softest Lu Ten had heard her voice since they met.

Lu Ten turned his head towards Mako who was looking down at his feet.

“Yeah, okay,” Mako said, standing up. He dropped a kiss on the top of Lu Ten’s head before leaving.

Iroh returned around the same time Aang and Toph wandered off with a reluctant Mako in tow.

“He’s fine,” Iroh said, tapping the top of Lu Ten’s head as he passed. Iroh didn’t seem too worried about his father’s vitals, so Lu Ten didn’t bother questioning him as he and Katara left in the opposite direction of the earthbending trio.

Lu Ten was surprised to see that Toph, Aang and Mako had all stopped only a short distance away. Mako had climbed up on the canyon wall and was watching the younger two.

Lu Ten gave them their distance, not wanting to be around three earthbenders throwing rocks and boulders, even if he did trust them.

It didn’t take long after everyone, save Sokka who was still trying to get back to sleep, left before Zuko stormed up to Lu Ten.

“You said you’d train me,” Zuko stated.

“I said maybe,” Lu Ten said, looking down at his half full bowl.

He turned to look at his cousin. Zuko was glaring at him.

“You will teach me lightning bending,” Zuko demanded. Lu Ten raised an eyebrow at that, but knew it wouldn’t be noticeable behind his mask. Zuko sounded like Azula when he spoke like that. Lu Ten wasn’t sure if he was mad at being spoken to like that, or humored at how horrified Zuko would be if he knew who he just said that to.

Zuko followed Lu Ten around like a lost turtle-duck when they were younger. Lu Ten’s word might as well have been law to a tiny Zuko, now he was a smart mouthed teenager who clearly didn’t care one bit who was behind this mask.

“Well, now I don’t think I want to,” Lu Ten said, turning back to his bowl to continue eating.

Zuko growled slightly, before swallowing his pride. “Please, I would be very grateful if you could teach me,” Zuko gritted out between his teeth.

“When your Uncle wakes up,” Lu Ten replied, taking pity on his cousin. “I do not wish to injure you and it would be safer with him around to help.”

“When my Uncle wakes up, we’re leaving,” Zuko stated.

“Then I can’t teach you lightning bending, can I?” Lu Ten said, staring his cousin down.

Zuko growled at him, before storming off slightly.

Lu Ten finished his breakfast slowly, then tended to the chores that needed to be done. Mako and Iroh were busy and Lu Ten was long past the days where he was relatively useless at doing chores. He started by straightening up the chaos in their tent, it having been thrown up haphazardly the night before. The corner by Iroh’s bag was sticky with something but Lu Ten’s pretty sure it’s where Iroh had spilt wine in the tent a week ago. They must have forgotten to clean it up, so Lu Ten cleaned it up now before sorting out their laundry.

They would need to do it in the next week or so, unless they really wanted to smell bad. It was usually left to Iroh who, as a waterbender, could more easily wash clothes. If Lu Ten got bored enough he might do it himself today, but Mako’s bag was starting to smell bad and Lu Ten was more curious about that than anything else.

Lu Ten nearly threw up when he found a bag of walnuts in Mako’s bag that had a dead and rotting collection of worms in it. He was going to need to have a talk with his boyfriend about things like this, Mako was the worst of them at cleaning up their area, which made no sense as he was also the most obsessive about order. Maybe Lu Ten could just point Iroh in his direction. 

After that discovery Lu Ten was done with cleaning, even if the tent still looked a disaster. 

He flinched as a loud rumbling sound made its way through the camp. He shook himself slightly. It was just Mako, Toph and Aang practicing, there was no need to panic.

It still took him a moment to slow his heart rate.

Once calm, he debated with himself, wondering if he even wanted to bother, before making a pot of tea and carrying two cups over towards where his father and cousin were.

Lu Ten stood over Zuko but his attention was on his father. “I can at least walk you through the theory for now, if you want me too,” Lu Ten said, handing Zuko a cup of tea.

Zuko glared up at him but took the cup without question. “Fine,” he said.

“Lightning is often called the cold fire,” Lu Ten said, repeating what his own father had told him. “It’s not like normal fire which takes heat and energy to use. In fact, lightning takes almost no energy at all. It starts with a lack of energy. That lack of energy is so unnatural that it forcibly snaps back into place, creating lightning when it does. It’s the job of the bender to control that snapping energy.”

“It takes a certain headspace to lightning bend. Sadly,” Lu Ten said, looking at his hands, “your sister, and I suppose your father too, use an absence of feeling to drive their lightning bending. It works well enough, but it is not a healthy mindset to have. Instead, a bender much reach an equilibrium within themselves to form lightning without such emptiness.”

“You probably won’t want to hear this, and you might even think I am lying, but you will struggle with lightning bending, everyone who knows imperial firebending does,” Lu Ten said. He had eventually mastered lightning bending under imperial training, though he had learned it the same way as Azula and Ozai. His grandfather had taught him, as well as Lu Ten’s father and uncle. It was no wonder all of them ended up learning it wrong at first.

That dark emptiness had left him in a weird mental state for his late teen years. He wasn’t a very happy teenager and his father had been upset with how depressed Lu Ten had become under his lightning bending training. It was only when his father took him to meet the Masters that Lu Ten realized that was wrong. It had taken time after that, but Lu Ten eventually stopped feeling so empty. He wondered absentmindedly if that was how Mako had learned it. It might explain some of his behavior, having had to force such detachment.

“Even your sister probably struggled,” Lu Ten assured. “When you are taught to fuel your fire with anger and are suddenly told to cut it off, to complete emotional disconnect, you will struggle.”

Zuko looked both disbelieving and put out at what Lu Ten told him.

“Peace, Prince Zuko,” Lu Ten said. “You need inner peace. Without it, you cannot lightning bend and I don’t think you have it.”

“And you do?” Zuko asked, testily.

“Clearly, as I am able to lightning bend,” Lu Ten said, though he wondered sometimes if he didn’t just fall back on bad habits in times when peace was lost to him.  
“So, is that why you brought the tea?” Zuko asked looking into the cup. “Uncle says it’s calming.”

“Ah,” Lu Ten said, “no, I brought the tea because I figured it would be something to break the ice. Calming tea can’t bring peace to your mental state, it can only calm you down long enough for you to sort things out yourself. Meditation does the same thing.”

Zuko frowned.

“I think your issue is you want instantaneous results, and you can’t get them,” Lu Ten said, taking the last sip from his tea cup. “You have to put forth the effort needed to achieve your goals. It’s odd, because from what I know of you, that normally isn’t an issue, so why is it now?”

“I don’t know,” Zuko said.

Lu Ten hummed. “I think you don’t want to know,” Lu Ten said, “because you don’t want to acknowledge the thoughts in your head. My bet is they run a bit treasonous.”

Zuko glared up at him, telling Lu Ten he had hit the mark.

“What would you know about anything!” Zuko yelled. “All you’ve done is insult the firebending arts and stick your nose where it doesn’t belong. You’re a traitor to our nation and I don’t know why I bothered giving you the time of day. I should have just let Azula have you.”

Lu Ten’s eye twitched slightly.

“You’re wrong,” Lu Ten said, feeling a heat burning in his heart. “Fire Lord Azulon insulted the firebending arts when he ordered the death of the original benders so that only his father’s style of bending would be accessible. Firebending isn’t supposed to be angry, it’s supposed to be energy! I haven’t betrayed my nation, every step I take forward, every action I take, every dream I fight for, is for my nation.”

“These people in the Earth Kingdom are dying, Prince Zuko, but do you know who’s dying alongside them? Our people, both here and at home and your father doesn’t care,” Lu Ten exclaimed. Zuko leaned back from him. Lu Ten stood up to start pacing.

“And that’s so cute of you by the way,” Lu Ten shot towards his cousin, not even beginning to care how deeply he cut, “to say you should have let Azula have me as if you were the one who stopped her. You’re lucky I gave you the time of day, not the other way around, or you’d be dead!”

“You need to wake up,” Lu Ten said, looking Zuko in the eye, “because I’m not the only one branded a traitor around here! I’ve seen your wanted poster next to mine, 500 gold piece reward, how quaint, mine’s up to 5000, for daring to open my eyes and see that all this war does is kill people for no reason! The Fire Nation had been chipping away at the Earth Kingdom since Avatar Roku was alive, even before the war officially started, and here we are, not even halfway across it one-hundred years later! What’s the point Prince Zuko? Tell me, because the only point I see is a body count.”

Zuko’s jaw had dropped as Lu Ten ranted and he was now staring up at Lu Ten with wide eyes.

Lu Ten lost his fight and collapsed on the ground across from Zuko.

“I was like you, you know,” Lu Ten explained, staring blankly at his cousin, “four or so years ago. Then I met my friends and they made me realize just what was wrong with the picture I had painted in my head. The Fire Nation isn’t spreading prosperity through the lands. We aren’t bringing them civility! We aren’t better than these people, in most cases at this point we are worse.”

“My friend, the Blue Dragon,” Lu Ten continued, “he told me once that civilization isn’t marked by the inventions and creations you make but by caring for people. That you could have all the advancements in the world but if you lacked compassion what’s the point. He said that what separates civilization form the wilds of nature is looking as some pitiful thing destined to be left behind to die of a broken leg and healing it instead.”

Zuko had his head turned away, his scar now the only thing facing Lu Ten. He didn’t want to acknowledge what Lu Ten said, but Lu Ten could tell he was listening.

“I was that pitiful thing destined to be left behind to die of a broken leg,” Lu Ten said. Zuko’s neck snapped around as he looked Lu Ten over. “He healed me instead.”

“The Fire Nation doesn’t do things like that, I think your scar is enough to prove that, so maybe just maybe, we could learn something from these other nations we are so determined to wipe out,” Lu Ten said, before taking once last look at his father and standing to walk away.

He could feel his cousin’s eyes on his back as he left. Maybe bringing Zuko’s scar into the argument had been too much, but Lu Ten’s heart was burning with pain for his nation, his family and his cousin, and he couldn’t bring himself to care. 

Zuko needed to know, that no other nation would have sat back and allowed that to happen. Only the Fire Nation, as it was now, would be so cruel.

He went to lay down in his shared tent, ignoring Aang as he pouted around the campground over something.

He should have known if Aang was done earthbending then, Mako would be back.

Mako was currently trying to clip his toenails, but awkwardly stopped when Lu Ten walked in and pulled off his mask.

“Hey,” Mako said, placing the clippers down.

“You don’t have to stop on my account,” Lu Ten said, flopping forward onto his sleeping roll.

“You okay?” Mako asked, rubbing his back.

“Yeah, I’m just tired of the way Zuko’s acting,” Lu Ten said, rolling over and pulling Mako with him. “How’d your day go?”

Mako rolled his eyes. “I’m pretty sure Toph is trying to kill Aang at this point,” Mako said, moving to lay over the top of Lu Ten. Lu Ten wrapped his arms around Mako and closed his eyes slightly.

“What happened?” Lu Ten asked.

“A lot,” Mako said. “Aang can’t get the hang of earthbending and Toph isn’t stopping to see things from his point of view. Neither of them wants to listen to me.”

Lu Ten hummed. “Sounds like twelve-year-old drama,” he replied.

Mako snorted. “Bit more serious than that but sure,” Mako said.

“Where’s Ro?” Lu Ten asked.

“Last I saw of him was this morning, so he’s still with Katara,” Mako answered.

“Um,” Aang said, from outside the tent, “Mr. Dragons! Sokka is missing and it’s nearly sun down. Can you help us look for him? Katara’s not back yet either but I know she’s with your friend. I have no clue where Sokka is, though. Momo just noticed he wasn’t here and has been freaking out.”

Lu Ten looked up at Mako before pushing him up slightly. Mako pulled his mask back on and crawled out the tent, followed by Lu Ten who did the same.

Lu Ten and Mako wandered off in one direction while Aang wandered off in the other, somehow, they ended up back at the campground, though Lu Ten didn’t recall turning around, having spaced out.

In the long run it didn’t matter that they somehow got lost, as Sokka, who’s hair was in complete disorder, had already been located.

Mako went over to check on the kids while Lu Ten started in on the fire. Mako took up cooking when it became clear Iroh wasn’t coming back soon enough.

Darkness had fallen over the camp by the time Iroh and Katara trudged through. Katara ran over to join her friends, Aang and her excitingly discussing their training for the day.

Iroh plopped down in Lu Ten’s lap, his face burrowing into Lu Ten neck as his mask slid up slightly. Lu Ten ran his hand through Iroh’s hair, knowing Katara had driven him as mad as the other kids had done to Lu Ten and Mako.

“These kids are too much. Overachievers all of them,” Iroh muttered. Lu Ten laughed slightly. Truer word had never been spoken. He rubbed Iroh’s back to try and make him feel better.

“I think it’s cute,” Lu Ten said, though he agreed that they were all kind of a mess.

“I may have accidently told Aang your boyfriend’s name,” Iroh confessed.

Lu Ten paused, his heart skipping a beat. “Just don’t tell them mine,” Lu Ten said, pulling Iroh in tighter as he started slowly sliding down his body. Iroh nodded.

Iroh suggested training everyone tomorrow and though no one really put up much fight, everyone was slightly confused, even Lu Ten if he was honest.

They went to bed shortly after that, everyone worn down from training today.

That night, when he curled up with Iroh and Mako, he dreamed of his childhood.

Lu Ten had giggled as he ran up the hill right outside the palace walls. His father often brought him out here for picnics and the like when he was little, before he started shipping back out for war.

Lu Ten had pushed himself as hard as he could up the hill after his father, his little legs unable to keep up with the taller man.

His father had slowed down at the top of the hill and Lu Ten saw his chance. He took up a firebending stance, and pretended to throw a fake fire blast at his father. At the time Lu Ten was only four, and a half, and had yet to form his first flame.

His father groaned in fake pain before hitting the ground.

“I got you, dad!” Lu Ten called, before flopping on his father’s stomach.

His father’s laughter rang out over the fields as Lu Ten joined him with giggles.

Lu Ten woke the next morning with a smile on his face.

“What’s got you so smiley?” Mako asked, staring down at him. Lu Ten jolted slightly at the unexpected presence. While it wasn’t uncommon for Iroh to sometimes wake up before him, Mako never did.

“Why are you awake?” Lu Ten asked. Mako shook his head.

“I can’t sleep,” Mako said. “Too much on my mind.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” Iroh mumbled, his face still buried in a pillow.

“Later, when I figure out what’s bothering me in full,” Mako said, looking away.

Lu Ten pulled Mako closer and planted a kiss on his temple. “I love you,” Lu Ten said. “Just let me know if I can help with anything okay?”

“Always, babe,” Mako said, though something in his voice registered as off. Lu Ten stared at his boyfriend slightly wondering if somehow, he was the problem.

“You aren’t mad at me, are you?” Lu Ten asked. Iroh sat up, watching them closely.

“No!” Mako shouted, his eyes going wide as he grabbed Lu Ten’s hand. “No, I’m just upset with myself right now. I don’t know.”

Lu Ten traded a look with Iroh but Iroh just shook his head. Lu Ten nodded, he’d leave it be until Mako knew what was wrong, then they could all talk about it.  
Instead of continuing to interrogate Mako, Lu Ten got up to light the fire.

He nearly jumped out of his skin as he noticed someone watching him in the early light of the morning. At first, he thought it was Zuko glaring at him, but his teenage cousin was still slowly waking up under the rising sun.

“You’re awake,” Lu Ten said, addressing his father. “How do you feel?”

“Mostly confused,” his father replied slowly. “Though I do not think my head wound accounts for my confusion. How did my nephew and I end up traveling with you three and the Avatar’s group?”

“Azula’s been trying to pick all three of our groups off one by one, it’s safer to be together, at least for now,” Lu Ten said.

“I see,” he said, “I’m surprised you convinced my nephew of that.”

“Ah it took a bit of bribery on my part to get him to come with. He wants to learn lightning bending so expect that request when he wakes up,” Lu Ten explained. “Excuse me a moment.”

Lu Ten ducked back in the tent to find Mako had laid back down, though he still wasn’t asleep. Iroh was awake but still not moving around. 

“My father woke up, if you want to look at him,” Lu Ten said. Iroh continued to stare off into space for a moment before the words registered. He grunted.

“Alright, be right there,” Iroh said, throwing the blanket off himself and moving to get dressed.

Lu Ten ducked back out and as he started back in on trying to make the fire, he heard his cousin finally wake up.

“Uncle!” Zuko said, as he noticed his uncle sitting up next to him. “You were unconscious. Azula did this to you. It was a surprise attack,” Zuko explained.

“Somehow, that's not so surprising,” Lu Ten’s father replied.

Lu Ten snorted to himself as he finally lit the fire.

Iroh pushed his way out of the tent and mad his way over to Lu Ten’s family. Lu Ten hesitated long enough for Zuko to steal the fire to make tea, before following him over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, Lu Ten and Iroh did have the same dream at the same time.
> 
> I hope this wasn't too repetitive as I go through the same day three different ways. They are only together a few times so only so many scenes get re-written. I try to make them different as Iroh for instance knew Aang was awake but heard none of the conversation, or Iroh didn't really care to think to hard about Lu Ten waking up Mako while Lu Ten focused on it in detail. Things like that.
> 
> Next chapter is Mako's recap of the day. Chapter 10 picks up where this one left off.


	9. The World’s Greatest Earthbender - Mako

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mako tries to help Toph train Aang, but gets run over the top of by two twelve year olds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS: none really

“Yeah, okay,” Mako said, as he stood from his seat next to Lu Ten. He wasn’t fully sure what caused Toph to change her mind but if he had to guess from what he knew of Lin, she could tell he was lying about not wanting to come and felt bad for leaving him out.

It had hurt when Toph told him he couldn’t come with them. 

While Bolin had idolized the earthbender more than Mako, who was more interested in Fire Lord Zuko, he still had a great respect for her. Not to mention that Mako was close to Toph’s future daughter and was very curious about the young girl who would soon discover metalbending and raise two extremely powerful daughters. His brother had one day planned on joining Toph’s family, the least Mako could do is get along with the rough around the edges child.

Mako dropped a kiss on the top of Lu Ten’s head and squeezed his shoulder, before leaving. His boyfriend had been worried about how sleepy he was all morning but Mako didn’t want him feeling bad about it. Lu Ten couldn’t help how concerned he was about his father, but Lu Ten’s stress from the night before had been what kept Mako awake.

He couldn’t find the peace of mind needed for sleep, knowing Lu Ten was hurting. So, he stayed awake, watching over the other man until he couldn’t keep his eyes open a second more. It meant he didn’t get much sleep, which made him way more tired than he usually was in the morning, but it would be fine. He had operated on less sleep before and he could easily do it again.

His boyfriend just made it slightly harder to stay awake, as he held and cuddled Mako in the warmth that could only come from snuggling a firebender. It made falling back asleep easier. Going to Aang’s earthbending lesson would hopefully wake him up.

Mako followed behind the two twelve-year olds. Aang was bouncing and skipping as he walked. Mako had a feeling that Aang’s light footsteps were about to cause them a lot of headache, the kid wasn’t grounded. It was the exact opposite of Korra’s issue with learning airbending. Korra have been too heavy and stubborn to adapt to the light and flowing movements of airbending until forced to. 

Aang would eventually get the hang of it, but this would no doubt be a struggle and Aang and Toph both seemed clueless to just how difficult the task ahead of them was.

Toph stopped them, having barely left the camp, and dragged two large rocks down from the wall. The rocks slammed to the ground harshly and Mako hoped Lu Ten couldn’t hear them.

Mako wasn’t surprised to see her force the rocks from the wall, when a little further down the canyon there were two, slightly smaller rocks that would work just as well and were nearly falling loose from gravity alone. Not many earthbenders bothered to pay attention to things like that. Mako, who struggled for the longest time to earthbend, had learned to find the easier compromises with the stubborn element.

She set them down where she and Aang could reach them. Mako decided to step back and chill on top of the canyon wall, hopefully well out the way of their training.  
“The key to earthbending is your stance,” Toph said. “You've got to be steady and strong. Rock is a stubborn element. If you're going to move it, you've got to be like a rock yourself.”

Mako didn’t personally agree with that idea, but he came from a time where bending divides were a lot less rigid. His brother’s bending was a lot more dynamic than any type of earthbending found in this time and so was his own. Earthbenders certainly had to be stubborn and rocklike but that didn’t mean they couldn’t also be adaptive. He could see Toph’s point though.

Mako personally thought the mindset of bending was more important than the stance, as well. One could earthbend through other bending styles after all, though Toph wouldn’t know this. It was more important to think stubbornly then to stand stubbornly, thought the stance did have its place in the practice.

Though he supposed again, he could see where Toph’s idea came from. She, like Mako, had developed a different style of earthbending, though hers clung more tightly to the traditional forms. For Toph, stance would be the most important factor as she saw through her feet.

Aang didn’t though, and while teaching him seismic sensing would be useful later, he needed earthbending in general now.

“Like a rock. Got it,” Aang said.

“Good. Now the actual motion of this one is pretty simple,” Toph said, widening her stance and punching out with her fist towards the rock. The rock slammed against the canyon wall, right below where Mako was sitting. Mako contemplated moving but figured he could just push any rocks that flew too close away. 

“Okay,” Toph said turning to Aang, “you ready to give it a try?”

“I'm ready,” Aang said, repeating them move. He was forced backwards instead, something that had happened to Mako a few times, as he tried to learn his new element. At least he landed on something soft like Appa and didn’t have to deal with Iroh making fun of him for it.

Though Iroh apparently got that trait from his Great Uncle, as Sokka had no problem laughing at Aang and yelling, “Rock beats airbender!”

Mako snorted. Maybe Iroh was funnier than Mako gave him credit for, but Mako wouldn’t admit it out loud until Iroh stopped making Mako the butt of his jokes.

“If it makes you feel better Aang, there’s nothing wrong with your stance or your movements. You’ve got the motions down. You just didn’t have the mindset,” Mako said. Which was exactly why Mako disagreed with Toph’s first statement. You can do everything perfectly right, stance wise, movement wise and intention wise, but if you didn’t have the mindset of move or be moved, you would go flying. Toph wasn’t explaining that.

Aang ignored him, which irritated Mako slightly. The kid wanted him to come. Mako had assumed it was as additional support but he was ignoring him.

“Maybe there's another way,” Aang said, moving around the boulder, “what if I came at the boulder from another angle?”

“No. That's the problem,” Toph said. “What the stick in the mud said is right, as much as it pains me to say.”

“Excuse me?” Mako asked, slightly insulted by what the young girl had called him. He wasn’t a stick in the mud, he was an adult.

Toph ignored him. “Mindset is just as important as movements. You've got to stop thinking like an airbender. There's no different angle, no clever solution, no trickety-trick that's going to move that rock. You've got to face it head on. And when I say head on, I mean like this.”

Toph launched herself into the air and headbutted the rock. It fell to pieces under her.

“Whoa,” Aang said, staring at her in awe.

Toph started trying to walk off and Mako slid down the wall.

“Hey, I’m not trying to butt into your teaching style but even some earthbenders need softer touches. My brother learned best with gentle encouragement and self-discovery, over people forcing him to bend. Your teaching style might work on someone like you, or even me, who take challenges as personal offenses, but not everyone learns like that,” Mako said.

Mako had that odd sensation of shifting memories again, and realized Bolin, up until now hadn’t existed in his fake backstory. Mako was kind of scared to find out what reasoning the spirits gave for him not being with Mako now. A sinking feeling in his gut told him his brother in this timeline was dead. He didn’t want to think about it.

“Softer touches?” Toph contemplated. “I’ll give it a shot.”

Mako had a bad felling Toph didn’t know what that meant.

He was proven right when Toph’s next move was having Aang try to carry a large boulder on his back.

“Keep your knees high, Twinkle Toes!” Toph yelled.

Mako was watching Aang closely and glaring at Toph. He had moved down into the canyon with them in an attempt to catch the boulder should Aang fail to hold it up.

The poor boy was staggering and stumbling around. It really didn’t help that Toph was also causing small pillars to appear under Aang’s feet to knock him off balance.

This could not have been further from what Mako had meant when he told Toph to chill out with her training style, which meant once again, he was being ignored by a twelve-year-old.

Aang finally lost his balance and Mako grabbed the rock before it could fall on him. He set it down gently, making sure it didn’t make too much noise. Maybe Mako was a bit more careful with giant boulders than most earthbenders but considering his boyfriend had combat neurosis surrounding the element, Mako though it was warranted.

Toph shook her head and launched Aang back to his feet with a pillar under his back.

“No, wrong,” Toph said. “Let’s try something else.”

She led Aang over to a set of flat rocks and dug through the rocks with her fingers. It was an easier move, and one Mako used when scaling walls all the time. She was doing it really quickly though, which meant Aang would try it that way too.

Sure enough, he slammed his hand into the rock and grunted in pain.

“Here,” Mako said, sliding his hand slowly into the rock. “Try doing it slower. Sometimes the earth isn’t as stubborn as one would think. For instance, a place where the ground is already prepared to one day form a sinkhole, can be collapsed prematurely far easier than forming a hole where the earth is packed tightly. The earth is already prepared to move in a certain way, sometimes all you need to do is make it move faster.”

“Watch me again,” Mako said, removing his hand. “If I stood here for the rest of my life, leaning on this rock, my hand would eventually be encased, as dirt collapsed under me and built up around me through various ways.”

Mako leaned against the rock, already feeling the slight shift of dirt packing tightly under his hand, even before he started bending.

“Obviously no one is standing around long enough for that to happen, so speed up the process,” Mako said. “The earth already wants to cover my hand, so give it what it wants.”

Mako pushed down on his hand and it slowly sank back into the rock.

“You try,” Mako said, removing his hand again. Toph was looking at him oddly but she didn’t say anything.

Aang pushed down like Mako did but nothing happened.

“It didn’t work,” Aang said.

Mako sighed. “Have you ever wanted something so badly you’d move the skies if it meant you could have it?” Mako asked.

Aang’s eyes got dreamy and he sighed. “Yeah,” he said in a love-struck voice.

Mako raised an eyebrow at the dramatics but shook his head and moved on.

“That’s earthbending,” Mako explained. “All the time. I want you to move, so move. I want this to happen, so happen. Just because you are working with the earth, doesn’t mean you aren’t still having to fight it. The earth is slow, and you’re rushing it out the door. It’s easier than forcing it but even if it wants to do something, you’re still having to make it go quicker then it wants to.”

“You earthbend weird,” Toph said, “but again, as much as it pains me, he’s still not wrong.”

“I had to learn on my own. I didn’t have anyone to teach me,” Mako explained. He may have been slightly defensive as he said it, because Toph raised her hands in mock surrender.

“Were you’re parents non-benders?” Aang asked. “Why didn’t they just send you to a school or a neighbor.”

“My parents died when I was little,” Mako explained. He was talking about learning firebending but they didn’t need to know that. “I grew up on the street. I didn’t have money or time for school. I had to learn a lot on my own through trial and error.”

“Oh,” Aang said. “I’m sorry.”

Toph wasn’t looking at him, at least not with her face, though something told him he had her feet’s full attention.

“Things happen,” Mako said with a shrug. “We pick up as best we can and keep going.”

Mako motions the kids on and Toph takes the hint, dragging Aang off to his next torment. 

Mako wasn’t quite sure what Toph’s plan was when she left Aang standing in the wide basic stance earthbending was known for but Mako watched him for her.

Toph then launched out of the ground yelling “Rock-like!” into Aang’s ear. The Avatar tumbled over in shock and Toph launched him back to his feet again.

“See, he didn’t jump,” Toph said, pointing at Mako. Mako stared at her blankly, knowing she couldn’t see his facial expression.

Toph’s plan really did seem to be try and kill Aang through training.

Toph’s next plan was admittedly amusing as she stole Sokka’s club knocking the poor boy this way and that, until he gave up on getting it back. 

Mako sighed as Toph handed it over to Aang to try and bat at the rocks she drew from the ground. Mako turned away, though kept his ears open for any issues. He looked over the camp, right next to their practice area, and saw Lu Ten making his way towards his cousin.

Mako bit his lip slightly, as he thought back to Lu Ten’s question about kids. He had been thinking about it off and on since Lu Ten mentioned it and the truth was Mako wanted kids, badly but he knew neither of them were ready for that responsibility. Just trying to wrangle Toph and Aang was hard enough and he didn’t even need to raise them.

There was also the darker thought in the back of his mind. Mako had lost his parents as a kid and the idea of having a kid, particularly in the event that they managed to screw everything in this timeline up and the war continued, scared him. He didn’t want to leave them behind. He didn’t want to fear leaving them alone to battle the world. They would be royalty, with Lu Ten as Mako’s partner but having known Wu, Mako knew that was just as lonely an existence for an orphan, even if it wasn’t one as hungry.

Mako just wasn’t sure what to do with his boyfriend, between the kid question and finding himself falling short of being able to comfort Lu Ten. Iroh was over here healing Lu Ten’s father for him and Mako just gave him a blowjob and called it a day. He was completely lost on what to do about either of those issues.

He wanted to talk to Lu Ten, but he was scared if he pointed out his short comings, Lu Ten would break up with him. Just the idea had Mako’s heart racing with fear. He couldn’t lose Lu Ten, he just couldn’t.

He was so lost in thought, staring at the spot Lu Ten had previously occupied, he completely forgot what was happening around him. Which was why when Aang finally hit one of Toph’s rocks, the clang was enough to make Mako jump and nearly fall off the cliffside.

Mako turned to them to see Toph nodding.

She then lined them up, brought up a wall of rocks around them, that caused Mako to move so he could see them, and built herself rock armor.

Toph charged him and Mako smiled to himself, when Aang managed to push her back slightly. There was some give and take but eventually Aang got her across the marker she made.

Things went a lot smoother after that.

Aang was able to hold his balance on two earth pillars while tossing a rock from hand to hand, even though the pillars were shaking from Toph hitting them.  
With Aang now having the stance down and the mentality, Toph moved on to something else.

Mako watched with growing dread as Toph set up her newest test.

“This time we're going to try something a little different. Instead of moving a rock, you're going to stop a rock. Get in your horse stance!” Toph said, getting in Aang’s face.

She gestured up the hill. “I'm going to roll that boulder down at you. If you have the attitude of an earthbender, you'll stay in your stance and stop the rock. Like this!” Toph said, getting into her own stance and pushing forward with open palms.

“Could you have possibly picked something more difficult for a new earthbender to do?” Mako said. Moving still objects was a lot easier to do than stopping moving ones.

“I'm glad you said something,” Toph said, blindfolding Aang. “This is too easy. This way, you'll actually have to sense the vibrations of the boulder to stop it. Thank you, stick in the mud.”

“Yeah, thanks,” Aang said, sarcastically.

“My bad,” Mako said, rising his hands and backing away. He hadn’t meant to make things worse for the poor kid.

Mako watched Toph make her way to the top of the canyon and push the rock. He stayed standing behind Aang, to make sure the kid didn’t get flattened.

The rock started rolling and Mako could feel the vibrations of it moving up his leg. Aang looked worried and that’s when Mako could feel it. The slightest whisper against the ground and Aang was gone, up and over the boulder.

Mako had never managed seismic sensing without his eyes being closed before.

Mako widened his stance and extended his hands pressed together at a point. It was a firebending technique, for guarding from flames. The fire would part around your hands, leaving your body safe. The rock never hit his hands, cracking and shattering into two pieces seconds before. The two pieces kept moving past him on either side, as he threw his arms behind him, before they fell to the ground and rolled back and forth on their curved sides.

He was left standing in the center unscathed.

“I’m so sorry,” Aang said, pulling off his blindfold. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, this was the whole reason I was standing behind you, in case you needed help,” Mako said, dusting off the dirt that now coated him.

Toph started running down the hill and was once again up in Aang’s face.

“I guess I just panicked,” Aang said. “I don’t know what to say.”

“There's nothing to say, you blew it! You had a perfect stance, and a perfect form. But when it came right down to it, you didn't have the guts!” Toph yelled, pushing Aang to the ground.

“Hey,” Mako said, trying to break the two kids apart. Aang moved when he grabbed him but Toph didn’t budge.

“I know,” Aang said. “I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, you are sorry! If you're not tough enough to stop the rock, then you can at least give it the pleasure of smashing you instead of jumping out of the way like a jelly-boned wimp! Now, do you have what it takes to face that rock like an earthbender?” Toph yelled.

“No,” Aang replied, dropping his head. “I don’t think I do.”

“Okay, no, you two need to cool off a bit,” Mako said. “You’ve both been at this all day, we can regroup once everyone calms down. He’s made a lot of progress, let him digest it and we can see where we are all at later. No one masters earthbending in one day, not even the Avatar.”

“That sounds good,” Aang said standing and running off. Mako saw the direction he was heading, the small pond not too far from the camp, and knew he was looking for Katara. Mako just hoped the two waterbenders would be over there. Knowing Iroh and his creative water sources, they very well might not be.

“Yeah, whatever, go hide until you feel better,” Toph yelled.

Mako shook his head.

“What?” Toph demanded.

“Nothing,” Mako said, holding his hands up in surrender.

Toph huffed. “How’d you do that?” Toph asked.

“Do what?” Mako replied.

“Stop the rock the way you did,” Toph said. “That wasn’t earthbending.”

“Clearly it was, as I earthbended,” Mako said. “Look, Toph, even earthbending isn’t an art form set in stone. You can do all sorts of things with it, that don’t fit the image of traditional earthbending. You know this, as your own earthbending isn’t even traditional. Aang needs to find how earthbending works for him, just like you and I figured out how it worked for us. Let him figure it out okay?”

“Sure,” Toph said, in a way that told Mako she had no intention to listen to him this time either.

Mako shook his head before making his way back to camp. He settled down in his tent and pulled out Iroh’s nail clippers. 

They only had the one set, and Iroh kept ahold of them, but they were really everyone’s. Mako and Lu Ten just had a tendency to call all their hygiene products Iroh’s, because he’s the one most likely to panic about a hair out of place.

“Hey,” Mako said, when Lu Ten ducked into the tent and threw his mask down. Mako saw the look on Lu Ten’s face and place the clippers down. His boyfriend was upset and Mako hoped this was something he could help him with.

Lu Ten flopping face down in front of Mako. “You don’t have to stop on my account,” he mumbled into the mat.

“You okay?” Mako asked. He reached out to rub Lu Ten’s back.

“Yeah, I’m just tired of the way Zuko’s acting,” Lu Ten said, rolling over. He reached out and Mako let himself be pulled into his arms. “How’d your day go?”

Mako couldn’t help but be disappointed that Lu Ten changed the subject so quickly. Mako had wanted to help him, but now he was focusing on Mako.

Mako rolled his eyes, at both his boyfriend and what had happened today.

“I’m pretty sure Toph is trying to kill Aang at this point,” Mako said. Mako swung his leg over Lu Ten’s hip and laid down on top of him. If he couldn’t talk his boyfriend through his issues, he could at least hug him through them.

Mako sighed when Lu Ten’s arms settled around his back. Maybe he needed hugs as much as his boyfriend. He didn’t realize how tense he had gotten until he relaxed under Lu Ten’s affections.

“What happened?” Lu Ten asked. His voice vibrating against Mako’s head where it was pressed to Lu Ten’s throat.

“A lot,” Mako said. “Aang can’t get the hang of earthbending and Toph isn’t stopping to see things from his point of view. Neither of them wants to listen to me.”

Lu Ten hummed. “Sounds like twelve-year-old drama,” he replied.

Mako snorted. “Bit more serious than that but sure,” Mako said. It was a lot more serious than that. Aang needed to know how to earthbend and having a teacher that doesn’t mesh could mess things up. Clearly something gives somewhere because Aang does know earthbending before the end of the war, but what that was, Mako had no clue.

“Where’s Ro?” Lu Ten asked.

“Last I saw of him was this morning, so he’s still with Katara,” Mako answered. Mako leaned forward to kiss Lu Ten, whose eyes were closed slightly, but was interrupted by Aang.

“Um,” Aang called, “Mr. Dragons! Sokka is missing and it’s nearly sun down. Can you help us look for him? Katara’s not back yet either but I know she’s with your friend. I have no clue where Sokka is, though. Momo just noticed he wasn’t here and has been freaking out.”

Lu Ten’s eyes shot open and he looked up at Mako. Mako pouted internally as his boyfriend pushed him up and off.

His discontent at being interrupted didn’t stop him from pulling on his mask and joining Aang outside the tent.

Aang took off one way and Mako dragged Lu Ten the other.

Lu Ten wasn’t paying attention, so lost in his own thought he didn’t even notice Mako wrap his arm around his waist to guide him.

Mako sighed to himself. He had no clue where to even start looking for Sokka.

After wandering and spotting not even a sign of the Water Tribe boy Mako figured they headed the wrong way and turned them around to go looking out in Aang’s direction.

Lu Ten did a double take when they reached the camp, telling Mako exactly how much his boyfriend wasn’t paying attention.

Aang and Toph had apparently found Sokka. His hair was an absolute mess, but he was fine.

Lu Ten sat by the fire to set it up for Iroh but Mako continued on, to check on Aang.

Sokka was talking when he walked up to the kids. The poor kid was apparently having an existential crisis from whatever had happened to him today.

Aang’s lemur jumped from his perch on Aang’s shoulder to mako’s own. Mako had no clue what about him fascinated this small animal so much but it kept finding him and attaching to him.

“The whole time, I was in that hole, not knowing if I was going to live or die. It makes a man to think about what's really important. I realized–”

“Check it out, Mako,” Aang said, slamming a rock into the wall. Mako saw Lu Ten flinch out of the corner of his eye.

“Good job, kid, but maybe don’t be so loud with it. My boyfriend doesn’t really like earthbending,” Mako said, glancing fulling in Lu Ten’s direction.

“Oh, sorry, I’ll do that,” Aang said. “I didn’t know he was your boyfriend, were you dating when we first met?”

“Why is he dating an earthbender if he’s scared of earthbending?” Toph asked.

“He’s known me long enough to trust me and his fear didn’t really start until after he fell in love with me, before that incident he was just apprehensive about it,” Mako answered, “but we’ve been together for a few months now.”

“I didn’t notice, you all just seemed close,” Aang said, “but you look happy together!”

“I knew it,” Toph insisted. “I caught you kissing him this morning!”

“It’s not really a secret,” Mako muttered.

He shrugged, trying to throw off the kids’ curiosity. He didn’t really want to explain why the three of them were so close. Queer-platonic relationships and open relationships where a bit much to explain to a twelve-year-old, you didn’t really know. 

He turned to walk away from the group before pausing. “How’d you get my name?” Mako asked, just now realizing the airbender had used it.

“Rozin may have accidently told me what it was,” Aang said sheepishly.

Mako narrowed his eyes. He’d have to get Iroh for that.

Aang, now no longer occupied with Mako took off in excitement again.

“Appa, Appa, I can earthbend now! The key is being completely rooted. Physically and mentally unmovable!” Aang said, only to go flying when the bison licked him.

“Hey, where’s Katara?” Aang asked, when he landed again. “It’s nightfall.”

“Probably still with Iroh,” Mako said, moving to start dinner. “They have to be back soon.”

Mako was right, as a few minutes later, Katara walked over and started excitedly sharing her day with Aang who did the same.

Iroh on the other hand flopped down in Lu Ten’s lap, exhausted.

Mako paused when Iroh brought up group training, but nodded. Toph was too stubborn to listen to him and Aang didn’t seem to get what Mako said, but maybe if they saw it in actions the two might be more willing to listen to Mako when he spoke up.

Dinner was finished and Mako ate his leaned up against Lu Ten who still had Iroh planted firmly in his lap.

After dinner the three of them were too tired to continuing fooling with the kids and went to bed.

“Hey,” Mako said, slapping Iroh on the ass. “Don’t give away my name to people.”

“Ow, sorry,” Iroh said, glaring at him from below the blankets. Lu Ten laughed before dragging the two of them to him.

Iroh fell asleep instantly, Lu Ten not far behind him, but Mako stayed awake.

Something was really bothering Lu Ten, even if Lu Ten wasn’t fully aware of it. It started with their encounter with Azula and led to the odd question of adoption. Then everything in that abandoned town happened. Mako knew his boyfriend wasn’t okay. He could see a darkness at the edges of his eyes that told him Lu Ten wasn’t okay.

Mako could take a few guesses as to the cause, but ultimately, he wouldn’t know until Lu Ten told him. For the member of the group who talked the most about sharing, Lu Ten sure was keeping quiet about his own issues.

Mako couldn’t talk. He wasn’t telling Lu Ten how worried he was about him, about their relationship and about the future. He was scared to and maybe something similar was holding Lu Ten back.

Their relationship was so new, Mako didn’t want to put stressors on it, but he was scared it was about to collapse anyway, if they didn’t address whatever this issue of Lu Ten’s was, that was causing him so much pain.

Mako never got to sleep, running every single worry he had through his head the entire night.

Lu Ten was smiling in his sleep and Mako ran his thumb over the corner of his boyfriend’s mouth.

He didn’t want to lose this, but he also didn’t know what he was doing. He didn’t want to do it wrong. He didn’t want to accidentally hurt Lu Ten, the way he did with Korra and Asami.

Lu Ten’s eyes fluttered open.

“What’s got you so smiley?” Mako asked, wondering what had cut through Lu Ten’s quiet melancholy. 

He startled, Lu Ten who jumped.

“Why are you awake?” Lu Ten asked. It was a fair question. Mako was never the first awake and technically he still wasn’t.

Mako shook his head to dispel that thought. “I can’t sleep,” Mako said. “Too much on my mind.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” Iroh mumbled. He was still face down in his pillow but Mako knew that if he was ready to talk, Iroh wouldn’t hesitate to sit up and give him his full attention. 

Mako shook his head again. “Later, when I figure out what’s bothering me in full,” Mako said, looking away from them. He knew what was bothering him, he just needed to know what was bothering Lu Ten before he could fix his inability to help his boyfriend.

Mako felt a tug on his shoulder and let Lu Ten pull him close. A spark of pleasure raced down his spine as Lu Ten planted a kiss on his temple. Iroh may not like the scratchiness of Lu Ten’s beard but Mako loved it and the prickly tingling it left behind.

“I love you,” Lu Ten said. Mako felt his eyes water slightly. He felt twice as bad now, knowing he had no comfort to offer Lu Ten, even as his boyfriend comforted him. “Just let me know if I can help with anything okay?”

“Always, babe,” Mako said, not meaning it. Lu Ten couldn’t help with this. Mako had to figure this out on his own, without forcing it out of Lu Ten.

“You aren’t mad at me, are you?” Lu Ten asked and Mako felt like banding his head against a rock. Iroh had finally pulled his face from his pillow and was watching them carefully.

“No!” Mako shouted, grabbing Lu Ten’s hand in a death grip. “No, I’m just upset with myself right now. I don’t know.”

Mako didn’t even need to look to know Iroh and Lu Ten just traded a look.

Iroh must have convinced Lu Ten to leave it, as Mako’s boyfriend quickly got ready and left the tent.

“What’s up,” Iroh asked. He didn’t beat around the bush and Mako appreciated that.

“It’s not just me, right? Something is wrong with Lu Ten,” Mako said.

“He’s being confronted with his past, Mako,” Iroh said. “That’s likely to twist anyone up.”

“I guess, I just have no way to help him,” Mako said. “I feel like the worst boyfriend on the planet.”

“You are helping him,” Iroh said. “You’re making him laugh, you’ve made him feel safe and loved. Yeah, you haven’t solved all his problems but Mako that’s not possible, even for the best significant other in the world. Sometimes all you can do is be there. That doesn’t make you a bad boyfriend.”

Mako looked up at the ceiling of the tent and nodded.

“Iroh, I know you said you don’t want kids but if Lu Ten and I had them and something ever happened to-” Mako cut himself off, not able to even get the idea out fully.

“I’d raise them,” Iroh said. “Don’t worry about them not having someone who loves them there. I may not want kids, but I wouldn’t leave yours alone in the world.”  
Mako nodded again and laid back down, just in time for Lu Ten to throw open the tent.

“My father woke up, if you want to look at him,” Lu Ten said. 

Iroh paused for a long time as if not registering someone was talking to him, before grunting and getting up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not 100% a fan of this chapter but I don't know where my issue with it is, so...


	10. Bending Bootcamp - Iroh

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group teaches the kids how to mix their bending with mixed results.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Lu Ten has an unplanned melt down that goes into his actions during the war and the airnomad geocide.

“Can you stretch your legs out for me?” Iroh asked, leaning over his great-granduncle. Uncle Iroh had woken the morning after Iroh made his plan to teach all of the kids together. It put the plan on pause for a bit, but it would be worth it to have another adult around the camp. They were still outnumbered but now it would only be by one.

Uncle Iroh extended his legs. The movement was smooth. There was no shakiness of nerve damage or jerkiness of joint damage.

Iroh nodded to himself. “I’d just say take it easy, to be on the safe side but overall, you should be just fine,” Iroh said, sitting back on his haunches.

“My nephew,” Uncle Iroh said, nodding.

Iroh’s brow furrowed. “I’m sorry?” he asked.

“You sound like my nephew,” he clarified. “Not in words but in voice. I picked up on it a while ago but until now, I could not figure out who it was your voice reminded me so much of.”

“Oh,” Iroh said, not sure how to respond to that.

“Here, Uncle,” Zuko said, glaring slightly at Iroh as he passed. Iroh childishly stuck his tongue out when his grandfather’s back was to him. Uncle Iroh laughed at the two of them. “I hope I made it the way you like it.”

Uncle Iroh took a sip of the tea and scrunched his face in disgusted. “Good. That was very, uh, bracing,” he said with a slight grimace. When Zuko turned away he dumped the rest of the tea over his shoulder.

Iroh was a bit confused. His grandfather was rather excellent at making tea, though Iroh supposed maybe he hadn’t mastered the art yet.

“Well,” Lu Ten said, sliding next to Iroh and throwing his arm over his shoulder, “how’s our patient looking?”

“Our patient?” Iroh said, swatting playfully at Lu Ten’s stomach. “He’s my patient and he’s doing fine.”

Lu Ten hummed at that and looked down at his father and cousin. Iroh’s face softened. “He’s a trooper, he’s made a near full recovery even just one or so days later,” he clarified, knowing Lu Ten was just extremely worried about his father and unable to express it the same way as Zuko.

Iroh kissed the bottom of Lu Ten’s chin, crinkling his nose as his lips pressed against prickly beard hair. He didn’t understand why Mako liked it so much. It was extremely scratchy and left whatever skin touched it itchy.

“So, Uncle,” Zuko said slowly. “I've been thinking, or well talking to, uh, Red here and it's only a matter of time before I run into Azula again. I'm going to need to know more advanced firebending if I want to stand a chance against her and Red offered to teach me lightning bending when you woke up. I know what you're going to say: she's my sister and I should be trying to get along with her.”

Uncle Iroh looked up at Lu Ten with a curious look on his face but turned back to his nephew without comment. “No, she's crazy,” he said, “and she needs to go down. It's time to resume your training.”

Iroh felt Lu Ten jolt slightly at what his father said, but he stayed silent.

“I planned to let them train together today,” Iroh butted in. “Southern Style waterbending takes heavily from other elements and I figured seeing the other elements in action would better help Katara learn.”

“Not to mention,” Lu Ten added, “it can help the other elements as well, whether your desire is to have a surprise up your sleeve or simply to know how a bender of a different element may try to attack you. It’s all useful.”

Uncle Iroh hummed to himself in thought before nodding and standing with a grunt.

“Yes, that may prove very beneficial,” he said, grinning slyly at Iroh and Lu Ten. “You taught him lightning redirection, did you not. You recognized the form when you saw me do it.”

“I did,” Iroh said, it was a lie but it was better Uncle Iroh assumed they had picked it up from him, then for him to realize how they actually knew. “It is ultimately a waterbending form after all.”

Iroh didn’t mention that technically Mako taught Lu Ten, but Mako himself learned it from waterbenders as much as he did Zolt, so it all still lined up.

Zuko seemed surprised at that bit of information. He was suddenly much more willing to do the group training then he was when Iroh first told him about it.

Uncle Iroh was much better at gathering the children together than Iroh, Mako and Lu Ten had proved able to. With all four, technically five as Sokka was watching closely from the top of the canyon wall, kids now in front of him, Iroh suddenly blanked.

He turned to Lu Ten who shrugged. Mako was already shaking his head when Iroh turned to him.

He heard a laugh from off to the side, and Uncle Iroh came to the rescue once again.

“Fire,” he started, gesturing everyone closer in towards him, “is the element of power.”

Iroh watched as Uncle Iroh drew the Fire Nation’s insignia in the dirt with a stick he had picked up. The stick was long enough to allow him to stand up straight. Iroh was glad the man wasn’t trying to bend over right now.

“See,” Mako whispered to Lu Ten loud enough for Iroh to hear, “he didn’t go all out with his drawing. I told you we should have used simplified symbols. It looks nicer.”

Lu Ten shushed him and Iroh reached up to grab at his necklace. He smiled slightly thinking of the disaster carving on the small bone piece. Katara’s eyes locked on his hand, just now seeming to notice the necklace. Iroh supposed she was used to seeing them and just hadn’t registered it before now.

“The people of the Fire Nation have desire and will, and the energy and drive to achieve what they want,” he said, before gesturing towards Lu Ten.

Lu Ten got the idea and stepped back and away from the group. He stood with his feet close together and brought his fists back quickly towards his body, when he threw out his right fist, his left leg sliding behind him, the energy of the strike was enough to bring him up and around into a flip. He brought his right heal down with an arc of flame. It was oddly enough, the move Iroh had tried to show Katara the day before.

Lu Ten brought his hands together above his head before bringing them back to center to cool down.

“Fire is often seen as a destructive force,” Mako said, butting into the lecture, “and it can be. Fire can consume anything and everything in its path. The job of a firebender is to hold that control tightly, to stop if from consuming anything that isn’t their chosen target. Sadly, many firebenders over the past one hundred years have forgotten that.”

Mako moved closer to Lu Ten, cupping Lu Ten’s hands in his own. Lu Ten’s hands sprang to life with fire again. “However,” Mako said, “when a firebender does take care to tame their flames, the fire is no longer a risk to anyone.” Mako flipped his hands over to lace their fingers together and the flames disappeared instantly.   
Lu Ten smiled softly, as Mako looked up at him. Iroh smiled softly himself, watching the two. He didn’t really want a romantic relationship like them, but for some reason he liked watching the two sometimes when they were being cute together. Though not their more obnoxiously romantic moments. The cutesy sleep snuggles irritated him, because it usually meant Mako was still asleep and Lu Ten wasn’t getting up either, but the rest had Iroh developing a voyeuristic streak.

“Well put, my young friend,” Uncle Iroh said, with a laugh. He turned back to the group and drew another insignia in the dirt. This time it was the one for the Earth Kingdom.

“Earth is the element of substance,” Uncle Iroh continued. “The people of the Earth Kingdom are diverse and strong.”

“And, stubborn,” Iroh added, dodging a fake punch from Mako. It made the group laugh slightly so it was worth it when Mako clipped him slightly.

Mako shook off his slightly missed hit and turned back to the group. He spread his legs shoulder width apart before sliding his foot forward along the ground, keeping his stance wide. With the movement of his foot a section of dirt came from the ground and slammed into the only tree in the area.

“I still don’t get how you can earthbend like that,” Toph said. “It’s just weird.”

Mako shrugged. “I wasn’t formally trained, not by a human and certainly not by a badgermole. I had to figure out what worked and didn’t work for myself. It’s leads to some odd practices but if it’s not broken, why fix it, yeah?” Mako said.

Mako turned to Lu Ten.

“If you are expecting something cutesy from me about your element like you did for mine, you have another thing coming. Your element has nearly killed me three times at this point. I have nothing for you,” Lu Ten said, pointedly ignoring Mako’s pout.

Iroh laughed. “I can say something about your element,” Iroh offered.

“I’d rather you didn’t,” Mako said, moving away when Iroh walked forward.

“You see, kids,” Iroh started, still gaining on Mako, “earthbending forms are based on being a hardhead.”

Mako glared at him and Iroh used that moment to wrap his arms around him.

“But,” Iroh continued, “even the hardest of rocks can crumble under the right amount of pressure. It’s an earthbender’s job to figure how much or how little is needed, least they overdo it and trust me, they will always try to overdo it at least once.”

Iroh squeezed Mako tightly around the middle and Mako cracked. He started laughing as Iroh lifted him off the ground slightly.

“Stop,” Mako said, his voice shaking with laughter. “Put me down, you idiot.”

“Nope,” Iroh said, throwing Mako up slightly so he now had him around his legs rather than his middle. Mako leaned forward till he was resting over Iroh’s shoulders.  
Iroh carried him back over to the drawing and plopped him back down on his feet. Mako pushed him slightly when his feet were back firmly on the ground.

Uncle Iroh waited till they were done to continue, amusement clear on his face. “Air is the element of freedom,” he said, drawing the Air Nomad’s insignia. “The Air Nomads detached themselves from worldly concerns and found peace and freedom. Also, they apparently had pretty good senses of humor!”

“Yeah,” Aang said, “Monk Gyatso had this really funny joke about a lemur and a fruit pie but it’s kind of not appropriate and I’m not sure I should really know it.”

Iroh snorted. He’d heard the joke from his dad one too many times, and no a twelve-year-old really shouldn’t know it.

“Oh,” Aang said, as everyone looked at him expectantly, “I suppose I need to demonstrate airbending.”

Iroh shook his head as his grandfather pulled out three marbles and spun them in a circle really quickly.

“That’s not,” Zuko started but his uncle cut him off with a look. Zuko huffed instead.

“Water is the element of change,” Uncle Iroh said, cutting off an argument before it could start. “The people of the Water Tribe are capable of adapting to many things. They have a deep sense of community and love that holds them together through anything.”

He drew a Water Tribe Insignia in the dirt. Iroh was surprised to note it was the Southern Water Tribe Insignia he chose to draw.

“The Water Tribes are a people,” Katara said, “not a place. Even R-er, um, even Blue, being born in the Fire Nation is one of ours. It’s about the culture and the connection of family. Blue is kin to my brother and I though our grandmothers. Though our grandmothers aren’t related, they claimed each other as sisters, which makes him our family, no matter where he was born.”

Iroh licked his lips at that and tried not to cry. He wished the Southern Water Tribe in his time felt the same, but outside of his family, no one really wanted him around. Iroh wondered, if Rozin had been born a firebender, if these same people calling him family would still accept him, or if he would have been cast out into the cold again. It wasn’t a nice thought, and it was better for Iroh to pretend they would have.

Iroh stood with his feet shoulder width apart, but unlike Mako he kept one foot under him and the other extended out. He slid his back foot forward, spinning with the momentum and dragging the water with him in a circle, as he slowly hopped from foot to foot, and switched the water from his left to right hand and back again.

“I personally think waterbenders are the best,” Mako said. “They tend to be very easy-going and care-free, though our friend here is the exception.”

“So’s Katara,” Sokka called from the canyon wall.

“You’re one to talk,” Katara sniped back.

“Watching them bend is also fascinating. It is a very beautiful bending art,” Lu Ten interjected.

“Okay, first off, screw you,” Iroh said pointing at Mako. “Secondly, I will dunk you in cold water if you don’t cool down right now,” Iroh continued pointing to Lu Ten. “My waterbending isn’t here for your enjoyment.” Iroh put a strong emphasis on the word enjoyment. He was well aware of what Lu Ten was implying.

Lu Ten smiled widely, completely unashamed of himself for his comment.

Iroh shook his head, he really didn’t understand what about waterbending Mako and Lu Ten found so attractive. Though the way Lu Ten sometimes watched him do yoga, Iroh had a guess the word bendy fit into the equation somewhere.

“You three, are very entertaining individuals,” Uncle Iroh said, smiling at them.

“All this four elements talk is sounding like Avatar stuff,” Zuko said, glaring slightly at Aang. “Why are you telling us about it?”

“It is the combination of the four elements in one person that makes the Avatar so powerful,” Uncle Iroh explained. “But it can make you more powerful, too. It is important to draw wisdom from many different places. If you take it from only one place, it becomes rigid and stale,” he drew two lines separating the elements. “Understanding others, the other elements, and the other nations will help you become whole.”

He drew a circle around the drawings.

“The only things that divide us are what we let divide us,” Iroh said. “At the end of the day, there’s a lot you can learn from someone you’d think too different. My friends and I have developed many techniques between us with crossing our elements.”

“Yes,” Uncle Iroh said nodding. “The technique I told you of this morning is one I learned by studying the waterbenders. Waterbenders deal with the flow of energy. A waterbender lets their defense become their offense, turning their opponents' energy against them. That’s why it works so well for lightning redirection.”

“It actually works well for a lot of things,” Lu Ten imputed. “Even normal firebending can benefit from that mindset. It was what I used when I snatched Azula and Zuko’s fire from them during the battle. I took their attack and turned it into my attack.”

“Elements don’t live separately from one another,” Mako added. “Even in nature they work together. Even in nature you will find where elements intersect. After all both waterbenders and earthbenders can bend mud, and both waterbenders and airbenders can bend clouds. It just takes the creativity to find where the elements clash.”

“Do all elements mix like that?” Aang asked.

“My brother was an earthbender who could lavabend because like me, he was of mixed Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom decent,” Mako explained. “That’s one place where those two elements meet.”

“Water and fire aren’t too compatible but in nature, heat can cause changes in water’s state,” Iroh said. “It’s something I’ve noticed before, both elements lend themselves to mild temperature controls.”

“Water also conducts lightning,” Mako added. His voice sounded strained and when Iroh looked over he looked slightly sick. Mako seemed to realize the others didn’t know that word. “Ah, you can move lightning through water as easily as air. More easily actually.”

Iroh tilled his head. “Hey,” he said to Lu Ten, “we should try that sometime. See if I can waterbend lightning.”

“That would be so cool,” Lu Ten said, his eyes going wide with excitement.

“Wait, not what I meant guys, please don’t, you’ll get fried,” Mako said, turning to them.

“We’ll be careful,” Lu Ten insisted. Mako bit his lip and Iroh realized the issue was actually bothering him.

“Yeah, no, we won’t waterbend any lightning,” Iroh said. Lu Ten seemed surprised before really looking at Mako. His face softened.

“Not lightning water, promise, love,” Lu Ten said, dropping a kiss on Mako’s head. He mostly kissed the mask but Iroh supposed it was the thought that counted.

Mako coughed. “Air and earth are pretty separated too, they don’t mix well, but they can do some of the same things such as move rocks. Sandbending looks a lot like airbending even though its earthbending. I don’t really know what to say about those two,” Mako said.

“Air and fire are pretty much bound to one another elementally speaking,” Lu Ten said with a shrug.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Zuko demanded. Even Aang looked confused by Lu Ten’s comment. 

“Breath is very important to firebending, but not only that,” Lu Ten explained softly. He was looking away from the group, and Iroh could hear a familiar heaviness in his voice. “Fire, the element, needs air, without it, it will sputter out and die. On the flipside, in a rather horrifying parallel to history, fire can and will suck out all of the air in a surrounding area that it can. Sounds poetic when you put it that way. Fire consumed all of that which it needed to survive. Now our country is slowly dying within its own destruction.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Zuko yelled.

Lu Ten didn’t respond, he merely looked down at the ground. Iroh placed a hand on his shoulder and gave him a weak smile when he looked up. Iroh understood as well as Lu Ten the weight of having the country you are responsible for, having done something so horrid. Though Iroh was more detached from the situation than Lu Ten, he still suffered the consequences to this day.

“The Fire Nation was our strongest trade partner,” Aang said softly. “Air Nomads were a playful people and the Fire Nation used to be extremely passionate about life. Those ideals mixed well and with our temples being mostly nearby to the Fire Nation, it made for a strong allyship. Air Nomads made more trips to the Fire Nation than any other nation. They were our friends. We trusted them.”

Iroh felt his breath catch in his throat as Aang spoke. The lesson had taken a dark turn but as Iroh watched the struggle on Zuko’s face, he hoped it made a difference.

“I’m sorry,” Lu Ten said, quietly.

“It wasn’t your fault,” Aang said, trying to comfort him. “Sozin was the one who ordered it. You weren’t even born yet.”

“I’ve done some pretty bad things myself. His siege,” Lu Ten said pointing to his father and staring at Aang challengingly, “was something I helped with. I fought in it. I helped bring down the outer ring wall of Ba Sing Se. I lit rice fields on fire in an attempt to starve the people, who lived in the city, out. I burned down villages and killed people for the same cause. So maybe I didn’t participate in the airbender genocide, but I was complacent to the policies and techniques that led to it. I don’t get to act as if I wasn’t. So, for what it’s worth, I’m sorry, for what my people have done to you and everyone else.”

Lu Ten shook his head before walking away.

He left the group in an uncomfortably heavy silence.

“It takes an honorable man to admit his wrong doings and to apologize for them, even when he cannot fix them,” Uncle Iroh said. “I am greatly surprised by the maturity of your youngest friend. I am sorry that I led him on such a horrible mission.”

“He’s come a long way since we met him,” Mako agreed. “He was such a shit back then.”

Iroh snorted. “I need to report back to the battle field and I’m going to do so on my broke leg because I refuse to sit here with you two any longer,” Iroh said, mimicking Lu Ten when he was younger, in an attempt to break the suffocating silence. Mako chuckled slightly.

“Yeah,” he repeated, “he’s come a long way. Now he just wants to make things right. I’m proud of him, even if he can’t be proud of himself.”

“I like him,” Aang said softly.

Mako patted Iroh on the back. “I’m going to go look for him and bring him back, if you want to keep up with the lesson,” Mako said.

Iroh nodded, gesturing Mako off towards where Lu Ten disappeared to.

“Well, anyway,” Iroh said, drawing the lesson back to center. “What I wanted from this group session was for all of you to be able to pull from each other’s elements. My friends and I have spent literal days just messing around and seeing which moves the other two could learn. It’s led to us having much more attacks and defenses for ourselves.”

“I tried to show Katara three moves the other day,” Iroh continued, “and I want to add another one, a waterbending one for today.”

Iroh quickly moved through the four techniques, adding on a simple waterbending move that Lu Ten had discussed. Grabbing your opponent’s attack, bringing it around behind you, and launching it back at them.

“Like I said, it’s possible to adapt most moves,” Iroh said.

“I’m impressed, the three of you all picked this up from Southern style waterbending and lightning bending, you said?” Uncle Iroh asked.

“Yeah, Southern Style bending is made up of various things picked up from traveling the world,” Iroh said. “When my friend wanted to learn lightning bending, we realized there was a lot we could all learn from each other.”

“Anyway, Katara was struggling yesterday, mostly because waterbending doesn’t really make much use of bending with your feet, while the other three elements do,” Iroh explained. “I figured having actual benders of those elements around would help her pick apart where she was moving wrong, but would also allow you all to learn something similar.”

“Let Zuko go first,” Lu Ten said, returning. He still had a frown on his face but him and Mako seemed more at peace than they had for the past day or so. “Once he nails it, I want to try teaching him lightning bending, away from here. You’re more than knowledgeable about firebending to help Katara and the rest without me.”

“Works for me,” Iroh said, “Let’s go.”

Zuko glared at them before his uncle nudged him forwards. He still didn’t look happy standing in front of everyone.

“I assume you know how to do the firebending form,” Lu Ten said.

“Of course, I know how to do the firebending form,” Zuko shot out.

“Then walk us through it,” Lu Ten said, taking a seat on a nearby rock. Mako protectively stood at his back. Iroh watched them curiously but knew if it was something important the two would share with him tonight.

Zuko glared again but his uncle wasn’t letting him out of this and neither were they.

“Firebending stances stay low to the ground,” Zuko bit out. “So, you get low, before moving your back leg up and around you. The momentum takes you all the way around and into a flip, where you bring your opposite heal down to the ground.”

He looked to Uncle Iroh as if making sure he said it right. Uncle Iroh nodded slightly.

“I would add that firebending moves must have power behind them, without such force, you will not gain the momentum needed to achieve the flip, or many of the high-powered hits,” He explained. “Otherwise, what my nephew told you, is correct. Power in firebending does not come from the muscles though, as out friend Red has told you, it comes from the breath. Forcing the move is never the answer and can hurt you.”

“Oh,” Aang said softly, “that’s what Jeong Jeong meant.”

“You met Jeong Jeong the deserter?” Zuko asked. “Where?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Katara said testily, “Zhao chased him off. He’s not there anymore.”

“Anyway,” Iroh said, cutting across the current fight, “the move isn’t going to be one to one exact, you have to learn how to adapt these moves to your own bending styles. Now, let me walk you through the waterbending move.”

“L, ha, Red, come here,” Iroh said. He caught himself but Lu Ten was still glaring at him as he walked up.

“They don’t need my name Blue,” Lu Ten said.

“Sorry,” Iroh said sheepishly, “Katara, you too.”

Katara bounded over.

“I’m going to strike out at you and you explain what you do as you do it,” Iroh directed. “Red and Zuko will mimic after, okay?”

Katara nodded and moved into a defensive stance. Her right foot in front of her and her knees bent in a way to move in any which direction.

Iroh took up a slightly different stance, one that allowed him to extend his body out and launch a waterwhip in Katara’s direction. She moved, grabbing the water the second it left Iroh’s control and bringing it in, around her back and back out.

“Water moves in a relatively straight line,” Katara explained, “so if you don’t grab it and change it’s course, it will continue until it either hits a target or drops to the ground with no energy left. Once I grab the water from Blue isn’t no longer acting under his power, it’s acting under mine and I have to move it. From there the movement is simple, you pull in to your center from the side of the attack and push out on the side opposite.”

The water shot towards Iroh when she finished speaking and he pulled it directly back into the water skin he had refilled yesterday.

Lu Ten turned to Zuko and nodded. Zuko nodded back and Lu Ten roundhouse kicked towards Zuko, flames flying quickly towards the boy. Zuko rolled out of the way, having missed his chance to catch it.

“Go slower,” Mako called.

Lu Ten glanced at him before nodding and moving his foot slower. The flames moved in a manner slow enough that Zuko managed to catch them. His movements faltered and the fire sputtered out.

“Why can’t I get this!” Zuko yelled.

“You just learned it,” Lu Ten said. “Calm down and try again.”

Zuko glared at him and Lu Ten sighed. He moved over and grabbed Zuko’s arms. “In,” Lu Ten said, moving Zuko’s arms towards his center. He gave an exaggerated inhale.

“Out,” Lu Ten continued, moving Zuko’s arms outward. He exhaled loudly. “Line up your breaths with your movements or you will keep losing the flame. Draw it to you, and breath life back into it.”

Zuko growled slightly, but followed Lu Ten’s advice.

He nailed it.

“Ta da,” Lu Ten said. “See what happens when you do things right?”

Zuko ignored him.

“Good job, my nephew,” Uncle Iroh called.

“Guess it’s my turn to help the brat Prince,” Mako called, launching up from his seat on the ground.

“Good luck,” Lu Ten joked walking past him.

“Won’t need it,” Mako said, pulling him into a kiss. He continued speaking when he pulled back, “but I will need that.”

Lu Ten snorted before moving back to his rock seat. Iroh joined him.

“You okay?” Iroh asked as the two watched Mako’s stubborn hotheadedness meet Zuko’s.

“Yeah, it’s just really hard to see my family like this,” Lu Ten whispered. “Zuko was such a sweet kid and now I can’t help but wonder, were they always like this? Was I always like this? Even as a kid, did we just, act as if the world belonged to us? I hate the answer Ro, I really do, because it’s yes.”

“People can’t control the environment they are raised in,” Iroh said. “You have to make the changes you want when you grow up. They are still young. They still have the time to learn the truth.”

“I know,” Lu Ten said, “but it still hurts to watch them.”

“I know,” Iroh said, pulling Lu Ten against his hip.

“No,” Mako yelled, “that’s the exact opposite of what I told you to do!”

“Then you told me wrong,” Zuko shot back.

“I’m the earthbender here,” Mako shouted.

“Which makes you stupid,” Zuko replied.

“Look you little shit,” Mako said, moving the ground under Zuko’s feet till he slid back into a tree. “I’m trying to help you here, work with me. It’s simple. You’re creating a wall of fire and launching it at someone. Can you make a wall of fire?”

“Yes!” Zuko shouted.

“Then do so,” Mako said.

Zuko’s jaw was clinched hard enough, Iroh’s teeth hurt from it.

Zuko created a small wall of flames between him and Mako, that had Mako glaring as he was forced to jump back.

“No push it forward,” Mako said.

“You can’t,” Zuko said. “It has to stay where it is, that’s how the form works.”

“That’s how the firebending form works, you’re earthbending right now,” Mako gritted out.

Lu Ten sighed before standing again. He formed his own wall of fire and pushed it out towards Zuko as if it was any other attack.  
Zuko dissipated it as it reached him.

“Breathe, kid,” Lu Ten said, “and treat it less like a wall and more like a punch or kick.”

Zuko grunted and pulled up a wall. He launched it towards Lu Ten, or well part of it. Only the center piece of the wall moved but it was progress.

“Finally,” Mako said. “I never want to talk to him again.”

Mako made his way over and plopped down next to Iroh. Iroh laughed. “I thought he was your inspiration?” Iroh joked softly.

“He’s my annoyance right now,” Mako said, as he tried to level his breathing.

“You know what,” Iroh said, standing. “L, Red, sorry, Red, why don’t you just take Zuko and teach him lightning bending. We had our demonstration of firebending and we can handle the rest. You can walk him through the airbending move if you want.”

“Finally,” Zuko said marching off, his uncle trailing peacefully behind him.

Iroh could just make out Lu Ten rolling his eyes under his mask as the other man followed them.

With Zuko no longer around being antagonistic, the rest of the training went well.

Toph struggled with letting her feet come off the ground as she lost her vision when she did so. Iroh and Mako admitted, they hadn’t considered that.

Mako started showing her other firebending moves instead, ones that kept at least one foot firmly on the ground at all times. Toph took to them, well like fire to a house, the powerful moves suiting the excited earthbender.

Iroh was happy to note that whatever tension had filled Mako’s shoulders when he had first started helping Toph was gone.

Sokka surprised Iroh, as even though he wasn’t participating he was watching them closely. Iroh wondered if he was simply curious or if he was marking their moves for future reference.

Aang took to things a bit too well, making Katara who was still struggling slightly, feel bad. Iroh wasn’t sure at first how to fix her lack of confidence, then an idea struck as he watched Aang move.

“Do you have any moves I might not know of that could be adapted?” Iroh asked.

The question lit a fire under Aang, who started talking so fast Iroh was worried he suffocate.

Katara was still struggling and her anger was making it harder.

“Yeah,” Iroh said, halting Aang’s tangent, “that first one then, let’s try it.”

“Okay,” Aang said, before walking Iroh through a move that he was very unfamiliar with. He’d never seen an airbender do it. “It’s used to launch things, so you have to start with your hands low, and move them under and up. This will move the object up as high as it will go before it’s brought back down under its own power.”

Iroh nodded, giving the move a shot. He wouldn’t be moving anything with it other than water. He could see potential applications, such as hitting someone from below. It was an uncommon maneuver for waterbenders, but if someone was on a grate over a sewer it could work or it could be used for an attack under a boat it.  
He moved through the motions a bit before trying it with water. He was unsurprised when nothing happened, but he noticed Katara was.

“Get it?” Iroh said looking at her. “Even I can’t do something unfamiliar on the first try. You’re good Katara, but somethings take time.”

Katara nodded and went back to her practicing.

Mako called it quits to the whole practice as the sun started setting and a storm rolled in.

Iroh was in the process of putting up their tarp and tightening the tent posts, when Mako came up to him.

“Iroh returned, but he doesn’t have Zuko or Lu with him,” Mako said. “I can hear building thunder and these clouds could let lose any minute.”

Iroh turned to him and like fate, the sky let loose at Mako’s statement. The two men rushed into the tent.

“I don’t know what to tell you, Mako,” Iroh said, pulling the other man closer. “We have no clue where to even start looking for the two. If he’s not back by morning we can go look but we will never find him in this.”

“I know,” Mako said, his voice sounding strained. “I know.”

Mako stayed awake the whole night, and Iroh joined him.


	11. Electrified - Lu Ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lu Ten helps train his cousin, has a heart to heart with Mako, has a talk with his father, saves his cousin from a thunderstorm and takes a nap.

Another small explosion launched Zuko backwards and onto his rear. Lu Ten sighed into his palm as he watched his cousin hit the dirt. They had been at this for nearly two hours.

The words Lu Ten’s father just told him, and the words Lu Ten himself told him the day before, seemed to have gone in one ear and out the other.

Lu Ten wasn’t surprised, Zuko had treated learning the airbending move the same way. Lu Ten ultimately dropped the subject, more than annoyed at his cousin’s snide comments. Lu Ten, for the millionth time, couldn’t help but wonder just what was causing his cousin’s ire at the world.

He knew about his cousin’s banishment and Iroh had shared a few extra bits and pieces but none of that explained the new rage that simmered below the surface of his cousin. Zuko had gone from prideful and temperamental, to depressed and angry. Something more was at play here. 

Lu Ten shook his head as Zuko stood up again. He zoned out as his cousin started following the movement’s Lu Ten’s father had showed him. He was being too jerky with them. Though in all honesty, he could practice the movements all he liked, but without the right mentality he’d continue to fail.

Zuko had always struggled with mind over matter, even as a child, but this was bordering on ridiculous.

“Look,” Lu Ten said, “pause for a second, and stop glaring at me. You need to move in circles, move your arms in circles, your hands in circles and your feet in circles. The one thing you don’t need to be moving in circle is your mind. Calm your mind, circle everything else.”

“What does that even mean!” Zuko exploded.

“Never mind,” Lu Ten said. He shook his head and sat back down. Zuko clearly didn’t want to listen to him.

“He is right Zuko,” Lu Ten’s father said. “Clear your mind, do not think of anything that may trigger an emotion or you will lose the movement. You cannot force lightning or it will continue to blow up in your face.”

Zuko took a deep breath and continued doing exactly what he was doing before. Lu Ten thought this would go better but Zuko wanted to nail it on the first try and that wasn’t happening. It didn’t happen for Lu Ten’s father, it didn’t happen for Lu Ten, it didn’t even happen for Uncle Ozai. If Lu Ten had to bet, he wouldn’t struggle to guess even Azula didn’t get it right the first time.

If Lu Ten wasn’t hiding his identity, he’d tell Zuko that, as a way to calm him down, but the Red Dragon shouldn’t know that information.

With Zuko’s occasional explosion in the background, Lu Ten thought back on his conversation with Mako.

It had been short, but Lu Ten felt much better after it.

He had been shaking horribly when he walked off from their makeshift training ground. He finally paused and leaned his forehead against a tree to try and stop the pounding of his head. 

Then Mako had slowly wrapped his arms around him, causing Lu Ten to jump. Lu Ten’s heart started racing but eventually settled as he relaxed in Mako’s arms.

“What’s wrong?” Mako asked him, burying his face in Lu Ten’s neck. “Please talk to me.”

Lu Ten didn’t answer him for the longest time.

“I forgot what they were like,” Lu Ten finally said, turning to look down into Mako’s eyes. The bright bronzy, brown color mesmerized him. He wasn’t sure how to put his thoughts into words. He had wanted to tell Mako for a while but the proper words never came.

“You missed them?” Mako asked, searching his face for something. He looked slightly desperate and Lu Ten couldn’t help but wonder if he really was the thing bothering Mako. Even if Mako claimed otherwise, Lu Ten constantly felt the attention and upset from his boyfriend.

“No, well yes, but I forgot how my family could be about certain things,” Lu Ten clarified. “My father, he’s changed a lot, and so has my cousin but the ideals we were raised with are both there and not there, at the same time. I feel like I’m looking in a mirror, but something is drastically wrong with it. I guess what’s really bothering me is that I forgot what I was like. I don’t like being confronted with it, particularly within two people I love.”

“Not liking who you were is a sign of growth,” Mako said. Lu Ten was slightly surprised, usually it was Iroh giving the heartfelt speeches about caring for yourself. “It means now, you’re someone better. Wu told me that once. He was talking about curbing his addiction to smoothies but the words still hold, particularly since he grew into a better ruler around the same time and may have also been talking about that. With Wu, you could never really tell.”

“Your ex-boyfriend is weird,” Lu Ten said. It had been a bit of work, but Lu Ten was pretty proud that the jealousy that used to bubble up in his chest at the mention of Mako’s exes, no longer formed. He supposed that was another example of Mako’s odd advice. Lu Ten’s insecurity surrounding their relationship was gone, even if the occasional hiccup happened. He had grown past it.

“Wasn’t my boyfriend,” Mako said, rolling his eyes. “Do you feel better?”

Lu Ten pulled up Mako’s mask and pulled him into a deep kiss. “Yeah, I don’t know what I would do without you. I probably would have died, but still,” Lu Ten joked.  
Lu Ten had expected Mako to laugh, as he usually did at similar jokes but instead, he was staring softly at him.

“What?” Lu Ten asked.

“Nothing,” Mako said, shaking his head. “Well, if we’re being truthful, I’ve been kind of worried I wasn’t pulling any emotional weight in our relationship. You just comfort me so much and these past few days, I’ve felt pretty useless at returning the favor.”

Lu Ten pulled Mako into a really tight hug. “Just being with me is enough, Mako,” Lu Ten said. “I love you.”

Mako had nodded into his shoulder and repeated the sentiment. Lu Ten felt a peace settle back over their relationship, that had been dearly missed. 

Lu Ten startled harshly as Zuko hit the ground and let out a loud growl. 

Zuko stood up again and Lu Ten dropped his head between his knees as his cousin screamed in frustration when another small explosion formed instead of lightning bending.

“Why can't I do it?” Zuko growled. “Instead of lightning it keeps exploding in my face, like everything always does.”

“Well, peace of mind might help,” Lu Ten muttered. “You know that thing you’ve been told is needed to lightning bend.”

“Shut up,” Zuko yelled, turning on Lu Ten. Lu Ten growled at him in response. He knew the noise often frightened people when combined with the mask, though Zuko didn’t seem too intimidated by it.

Somehow that made Lu Ten even more mad about this situation.

Lu Ten’s father sighed. “I was afraid this might happen,” he said. “You will not be able to master lightning until you have dealt with the turmoil inside you.”

Lu Ten turned to his father. “Did I not just tell him that?” Lu Ten asked. “I’m pretty sure, I just told him that.”

“Yes, but it sounds better coming from me,” his father joked.

Lu Ten opened his mouth to object before closing it. He wasn’t wrong.

“What turmoil?” Zuko demanded.

Lu Ten stared at him incredulously but kept his mouth shut. If Zuko wanted to pretend everything was fine, that was his decision but he’d never be able to lightning bend doing so. Not unless Zuko learned the level of emotional repression Mako had and quickly.

“Zuko, you must let go of your feelings of shame if you want your anger to go away,” Lu Ten’s father said.

Lu Ten looked down at the small rock at his feet. He had always hated when he was younger, being told off in front of family members. He had hated even more watching his cousins being told off in front of him. Whether it be Aunt Ursa redirecting Azula’s mean streak or Lu Ten’s father redirecting Zuko misunderstanding of something, Lu Ten always felt weird. Uncle Ozai never redirected anyone, which was the only thing Lu Ten was grateful towards the man for. No second hand embarrassment came from that direction.

This situation was no different, as his father and cousin continued to have a moment in front of him. A moment he was understandably left out of even if he wished he could join. Lu Ten missed his family, but he wasn’t ready to rejoin them. They weren’t ready for him to rejoin them either.

“But I don't feel any shame at all,” Zuko said. “I'm as proud as ever.”

Lu Ten drew his toe through the dirt. Something about the way Zuko said that rang false. He was sure his father heard it too. Zuko wasn’t mentioning something.  
“Prince Zuko,” his father said, unnerving Lu Ten slightly with his formality, “pride is not the opposite of shame, but its source. True humility is the only antidote to shame.”

“Learned that one the hard way,” Lu Ten muttered to himself.

“I did in fact,” his father replied.

“Ah, I was referring to myself,” Lu Ten said, sheepishly.

“I supposed we both did, in our own ways,” his father said. “Such is the nature of self-discovery.”

“Well, my life has been nothing but humbling lately,” Zuko muttered.

“This is you humbled?” Lu Ten joked. Zuko glared at him and Lu Ten realized maybe his over familiarity with Zuko, was what was causing his cousin’s prickly responses. To Zuko they were strangers after all, even if Lu Ten himself was operating under the understanding they were cousins.

“I have another idea. I will teach you a firebending move that even Azula doesn't know, because I made it up myself,” he said, with a wink. “Though our new friend over here seems to have reverse engineered it.”

“Guilty,” Lu Ten said, with a small smile that mimicked the one stretching across Zuko’s face. It was a slight lie but Lu Ten had gotten used to letting people guess and assume what they wished.

“I mentioned it earlier today, the art of lightning redirection. As our new friends have shown you, moves are able to be adapted across bending styles. The move they showed you where you learned to redirect a fire blast back at your opponent works by using your opponent’s energy for your own attack or defense. I learned a way to do this with lightning,” Lu Ten’s father said.

“You are going to teach me to redirect lightning?” Zuko asked, in amazement.

“Yes,” Lu Ten’s father replied.

The three moved slightly towards a more open area. Lu Ten’s attention just as attached to his father as Zuko’s attention was.

“If you let the energy in your own body flow,” Lu Ten’s father explained, “the lightning will follow it. You must create a pathway from your fingertips, up your arm to your shoulder, then down into your stomach. The stomach is the source of energy in your body. It is called the sea of chi. Only in my case it is more like a vast ocean.”  
His father laughed slightly batting his belly.

Lu Ten reached down and rubbed his own stomach. It was soft on the surface but any force pushed again it revealed hard muscle. Lu Ten no longer had the ability to work out as regularly as he liked, so most of his muscles came though fighting and labor. 

Lu Ten’s stomach wasn’t necessarily big, so much as Lu Ten himself, in general, was big. Still, an ocean might just describe Lu Ten’s stomach as well, considering how much food he could tuck away.

“From the stomach,” Lu Ten’s father continued, his seriousness restored, “you direct it up again, and out the other arm. The stomach detour is critical. You must not let the lightning pass through your heart, or the damage could be deadly. You may wish to try a physical motion, to get a feel for the pathways' flow, like this.”

Lu Ten’s father started showing Zuko the motion to redirection, out to catch the attack, into the body, and back out the other side.

“You know what,” Lu Ten said, “I didn’t know that part about the heart. Would have been nice information. I’ve just been winging it.”

Lu Ten’s father looked at him slightly horrified. “How are you alive?” he asked.

“Good question, in all honestly I really shouldn’t be,” Lu Ten said, his lips quirking slightly at the irony. “I knew lightning was dangerous from having learned to bend it, but in bending it normally the heart isn’t really at risk. Blue never thought to tell me that.”

His father hummed. “He’s a waterbender, it might not have occurred to him it was a possibility. Who taught you to lightning bend?” he asked.

“Why, so the royal family can kidnap them too, so no one else can learn the art?” Lu Ten asked. He hadn’t meant to get snappy about it, but being around his family was hard and Lu Ten’s patience was wearing thin.

Learning that bit of history had been bitter medicine to swallow, but at that point, completely expected. Lu Ten hadn’t been surprised when Iroh told him how his family hid the practice and forced if from the last known practitioner, just sad. He was always just sad about it now.

His father and cousin didn’t seem to know how to respond to that.

“Yes, well, anyway,” his father said, returning to the bending motion. “Now, are you focusing your energy? Can you feel your own chi flowing in, down, up, and out?”  
“I think so,” Zuko replied.

“Come on, you've got to feel the flow,” Lu Ten’s father said, performing an odd dance move that had Lu Ten cringing with embarrassment. He was just glad Mako and Iroh didn’t see his father just do that. They would never stop messing with him over it.

He could just picture them mimicking the move at the most inopportune moments, causing Lu Ten to laugh when he needed to be serious.

They continued practicing the movement, Lu Ten joining them, just to see if it was any different from what Mako and Iroh had taught him. Lu Ten was surprised to find that it was.

He understood now, what his father meant by the pathway’s flow. The principal of in, down, up and out was more important than the motion. Iroh and Mako had jumped straight into the principal, skipping the basic motion all together and leaving Lu Ten without the crutch. Lu Ten really was lucky he had never drawn lightning into his heart, though he’s only really redirected lightning the once.

“Excellent,” Lu Ten’s father said, startling him slightly. “You've got it!”

Lu Ten bit his lip, feeling slightly weird at realizing his father was talking to Zuko and not him.

“Great,” Zuko said. “I'm ready to try it with real lightning.”

Lu Ten stared at Zuko with wide eyes.

“What,” Lu Ten’s father asked, “are you crazy? Lightning is very dangerous!”

“I thought that was the point!” Zuko shouted. “You teaching me to protect myself from it!”

“Yeah,” Lu Ten’s father replied, “but I'm not going to shoot lightning at you! If you're lucky, you will never have to use this technique at all.”

Zuko growled slightly. “Well, if you won't help me, I'll find my own lightning,” Zuko said, marching off.

Lu Ten’s father sighed deeply before sitting down on the ground.

Lu Ten didn’t even question how his father had a tea pot on him, he was used to the phenomenon, though he did question why he didn’t go after Zuko.

“Are you not going after him?” Lu Ten asked.

“Zuko is a very difficult young man,” his father said. “Currently he is working through a slow and painful metamorphosis. I hope he manages to gain what he needs from it and that he comes out the other side a better man and unscathed. This is not the first time he has run off and I doubt it will be the last. He will wander back when he feels better. Forcing him will not work well. He will merely run further away from me, someplace I cannot follow him.”

Lu Ten looked off in the direction Zuko had gone. His cousin had seemed hurt, but more than that he had seemed slightly lost and very scared. Zuko was breaking down in a way Lu Ten found familiar. It was after all the same process he himself had gone through. Lu Ten was lucky to have Mako and Iroh, though he supposed Zuko had Lu Ten’s father.

“Tea?” Lu Ten’s father asked.

“Ah, sure, I guess,” Lu Ten said, sitting across from his father. The position was a familiar one and Lu Ten suddenly felt really small sat across from his father.  
“You mentioned you served under me in Ba Sing Se,” his father said. “I have heard many tales of how hard it was and how weary it made the men. Do you mind me asking your experience?”

Lu Ten let out a heavy breath. “It was fine, aside from the long time away from home, well, up until I was almost killed by a rockslide,” Lu Ten lied. There was no reason to tell his father he was nearly assassinated. What purpose would there be in assassinating a foot soldier? It would be a dead giveaway that he was someone important and Lu Ten, now more than ever, needed to remain in the shadows.

His father placed his tea pot down and looked at him in surprise. “How did you survive it?” he asked.

“I, uh,” Lu Ten laughed, slightly to himself, “some friends found me, before anything too bad could happen. They took me in, even after figuring out who I was.”

“Young Rozin and your lover?” his father asked.

“Yeah, Ro and my definitely not lover at the time,” Lu Ten joked. “Agni, they both hated me so much back then. I was really rude and cruel to them but Ro, he’s made of something else and helped me anyway. He’s one of those people that unthinkingly just gives you the clothes off his back, because well, you need them and he has them to give. Very rarely does Ro turn down helping people. He was just raised to be helpful and never found a reason to be otherwise. If ah, my lover, had his way back then, I would have been snake-vulture food. Funny how much can change over the years.”

“What happened then?” his father asked. “How did the Sons of Agni come to be?”

“Well,” Lu Ten said, surprised at how curious his father was, he wouldn’t have cared a few years ago, “it started when Ro and lover boy knocked some sense into me. They took me down the refugee trail towards the colonies. Seeing those people, hurting because of my actions and the actions of men similar, I realized I couldn’t go back at all. I knew too much about the things the Fire Nation was trying to hide, at that point.”

“Blinding oneself to the truth once revealed is never easy,” his father said.

“No, it isn’t,” Lu Ten agreed. “It haunts you until you confront it. I thought I had it right after that. I made my decision. I was going to fight the Fire Nation and bring it back to order. I was a very stupid twenty-one-year-old.”

“I would not say stupid, maybe naive,” his father responded with a laugh.

“Well,” Lu Ten said, “whatever you label it, I did something really stupid. I nearly got an old man killed because I thought mouthing off was a good idea and got Ro dragged into a secret society. If Ro and my lover weren’t the great men they were, that entire chapter of my life would have ended a lot worse.”

“Sounds like you got lucky to have found them,” his father said.

“Nah, they found me and sometimes I think it wasn’t luck, so much as fate,” Lu Ten said. He thought on the spirit visions he and his friends never got around to discussing. It had been nearly unspoken, their agreement to ignore the craziness until it came knocking on their door once more.

His father hummed. “And the Sons of Agni?” his father asked.

Lu Ten laughed. “I told the other two I was fighting the Fire Nation one way or the other, and I guess they decided they put too much effort in making sure I lived to let me die stupidly. So, they joined me. Ro found these masks and thought they looked cool. Then in our first big fight with the Fire Nation, the leader asked us our names. I told him we were the Sons of Agni and the rest is history.”

“Interesting, you seem quite full of stories,” his father said. “Why Sons of Agni?”

“We are all of Fire Nation decent,” Lu Ten said. “It was a commonality between us and I ran with it. The Fire Nation is wrong and even Agni’s children disagree with them. Kind of sends a message.”

His father laughed. “Yes, it certainly did that,” he said. “You are very hated over there.”

“Yeah,” Lu Ten said, sheepishly. He wasn’t quite sure how he felt about that. “We’ve calmed down slightly over the years, more concerned with preserving what we have, over actively fighting off the Fire Nation. Our bounty doesn’t help but we’ve run off all the main suspects. In fact, Ro’s sort of sleeping with and sort of best friends, with one of them.”

“Certainly effective,” his father said, good humor caused a smile to stretch across his face which created crinkles around his eyes.

The conversation lulled and Lu Ten looked down at his tea. It had gone cold but heating his palms soon took care of that.

“Where are you headed next?” his father asked.

“Don’t know,” Lu Ten said. “We never know until we get there.”

“You don’t plan to travel with the Avatar?” he asked.

“No,” Lu Ten replied, “we have no clue where those kids are headed but it’s not the same way we are and if they come with us, well, it’s best they don’t come with us. We have way too many run ins with the type of people who’d like to turn Aang in.”

“I think it best if my nephew and I head out towards Ba Sing Se,” Lu Ten’s father said, out of the blue. “We need somewhere safe and stable for Zuko to regroup with himself. A new life, that’s what most search for there and that sounds nice.”

Lu Ten snorted. “I left my old life behind there, so I guess that’s true enough. I’ve helped a few people through the Serpent’s Pass before, but that’s as close as I ever got, aside from your siege. Not sure I could make it closer. Not sure I want to face that part of my life again,” Lu Ten muttered.

“One cannot truly embrace the future until they make peace with their past,” his father said. “You do not have to like what happened, but you still need to accept it happened, even if it wasn’t fair, to ever move on from it.”

“I guess,” Lu Ten said, watching his father closely. “It’s also a matter of all of our contacts and war efforts are here outside the walls and inside, well I’ve heard stories. There is no war in Ba Sing Se, as if the thousands of refugees in the city came from nowhere for no reason. I don’t trust that city.”

“Yes,” his father said, “thousands of refugees, no one will notice two more.”

“No one important,” Lu Ten corrected, “but it only takes one to tell.”

“Then we best be careful,” his father said. “It has been nice talking to you Lu, but my bones are weary and I think dinner and sleep are calling me.”

“Night,” Lu Ten said, not yet ready to head back to camp. There were storm clouds forming and Zuko was still somewhere out on the horizon.

It wasn’t until a few minutes later what his father said to him registered. “Wait, how do you know my name?” Lu Ten asked, turning where his father had been, but the other man was gone.

Lu Ten sighed to himself. He wasn’t sure how to feel, knowing his father somehow knew the name Lu Ten went by. He wondered if the man also knew Mako’s name. He wondered if his father somehow knew who Lu Ten was entirely.

After running various ideas in his head, Lu Ten settled on the idea of the While Lotus just knowing all their names. His father would therefore know the Red Dragon’s name was Lu. There was nothing to worry about. He hoped.

Well, save for his still missing cousin. Lu Ten finished his tea and took off to search for Zuko.

If Zuko was looking for lightning, he’d be up high.

Lu Ten could see a set of rock pillars a short distance away and figured that had to be where Zuko had gone.

By the time Lu Ten had made it up the tallest pillar, the rain was coming down in sheets that made it nearly impossible to see. Lu Ten held his hand over his eyes to keep the water out of them as he squinted into the rain.

He could barely make out a blob in the distance and hoped it was his cousin. Lightning streaked across the sky and Lu Ten jumped slightly at how loud the thunder sounded from up there. 

He was forced to look away as one lightning strike flared to life nearby, nearly blinding him. He supposed that intense brightness was how non-firebenders felt looking at the sun. He’d have to apologize to Mako and Iroh when he next saw them, as he too often made fun of them for it.

“You've always thrown everything you could at me,” Lu Ten heard his cousin scream. “Come on, strike me! You've never held back before!”

Lu Ten started running in the direction of Zuko’s voice. Zuko’s words and mental state alarmed him. He knew his cousin was struggling currently, with both his moral compass and his firebending abilities but begging lightning to strike him couldn’t be good.

Lu Ten reached his cousin as the other collapsed to his knees and screamed in frustration.

“Hey,” Lu Ten said, grabbing Zuko’s shoulder. Zuko didn’t respond, his shoulders shaking as he cried. “Zuko?”

“Go away!” Zuko shouted. “Go away, and take your disloyalty with you.”

“No,” Lu Ten said, “You’re hurting and I’m going to help you. Get up, we’re going back to the camp.”

“Don’t touch me,” Zuko said, jerking his arm from Lu Ten’s grip.

“Okay, okay,” Lu Ten said, holding his hands within Zuko’s view. Lu Ten licked his lips as he thought. The rain water tasted slightly off, like dirt. “Come on kid, people are worried about you.”

“No one’s worried about me,” Zuko said, curling in on himself.

“That’s not true,” Lu Ten said. “I’m worried about you.”

“Why?” Zuko demanded.

“Because you’re hurting,” Lu Ten said. “What’s wrong? How can I fix it?”

“You can’t!” Zuko shouted. “I lost my honor years ago and all you’ve done is made me play nice with my one chance to return home. If I can’t capture the Avatar, what good am I?”

Lu Ten sat next to Zuko. He really wished they weren’t doing this in the rain.

“Zuko,” Lu Ten started, before pausing. He grunted in frustration and yanked off his mask. “Look at me.”

Zuko looked over and Lu Ten could tell, he had no clue who Lu Ten was. Either Zuko’s memory forgot, Lu Ten’s face changed more then he thought it did or the rain was hiding his face.

“You are good enough,” Lu Ten said, making blurry eye contact with Zuko. “You don’t need to capture the Avatar to restore your honor. Honor isn’t something earned, Zuko. It’s something you build. Your father can’t give you back your honor. Your father never should have claimed it gone. If the Avatar is the only way you can return home, is it worth it?”

That was apparently the wrong thing to ask. Zuko struck out to hit Lu Ten, but Lu Ten blocked it and pulled Zuko into a loose hold that soon turned into a hug. Zuko started crying again but Lu Ten didn’t release until he stopped struggling.

Zuko had fallen asleep.

Lu Ten breathed deeply for a moment, winded by both the events of the night and Zuko’s emotional outbursts.

Lu Ten tied his mask to his belt, needing all his vision for what he was about to do. He picked his cousin up.

“Uncle?” Zuko asked, his eyes still closed.

Lu Ten shushed him and carried him slowly down the pillar’s side and back to camp. It proved more difficult than imagined and there were some moments where Lu Ten feared his cousin would wake up to yell at him some more. Lu Ten slipped and slid in the mud and wet gravel as he walked. He splashed through deep puddles but never once did his hold on his cousin waver.

He made it to the camp after what felt like hours of walking. The others all seemed to be asleep, though Lu Ten’s father’s tent still had a light on in it. Lu Ten slipped the flap open and laid Zuko on one of the sleep pallets without comment.

“So, this is what the Red Dragon looks like?” Lu Ten’s father asked.

Lu Ten looked up at him, but his father didn’t seem too shaken by his appearance. He really must look different after all, if even his father didn’t recognize him.  
“Yep,” Lu Ten said. He looked down at his cousin one last time. “He’s kind of a mess.”

“He is, but he’s working on it,” Lu Ten’s father reassured.

“He yelled at the sky to stop disappointing him and just strike him with lightning all ready,” Lu Ten said, blankly.

“Ah, he’s trying?” his father corrected.

Lu Ten looked at him doubtfully but left it alone as he tried to slip from the tent.

“Thank you,” his father said, “for bringing him back. I did not realize that this was a bit more than his usual temper tantrums.”

“Anger is never the first emotion a person feels,” Lu Ten said. “Usually there’s an underlying emotion, my father taught me that. Zuko wasn’t mad you wouldn’t teach him lightning bending. He’s scared to fail again.”

“Wise man your father,” Lu Ten’s father stated, unaware of the irony, “I seem to have forgotten that myself, somewhere along the way.”

Lu Ten didn’t know what to say to that, so he simply bid his father goodnight and closed the tent flaps.

He made his way into the tent he shared with Mako and Iroh. He wasn’t surprised to find them waiting up for him.

“Are you okay?” Iroh asked, as Mako launched forward and pulled him into a hug.

“I’m fine, my cousin? Not so much,” Lu Ten said.

“Take this off,” Mako said, pulling at Lu Ten’s clothes. He tugged Lu Ten’s drenched tunic off him.

Iroh nodded. “He often told me how much he struggled at this time in his life. He was trying to make me feel better about my own struggles but it just made me feel guilty for the longest time. Here I am safely worrying about sexual attraction or lack thereof and there he was struggling through a crisis of faith and identity,” Iroh said. “I eventually understood what he was actually telling me, entirely too late for it to be useful, but still.”

“It was painful to watch,” Lu Ten said, running slightly wet and wrinkled fingers through Mako’s hair.

“I bet,” Iroh replied, pulling out Lu Ten’s meditation candles. Lu Ten almost never used them, but Mako had gotten them for him so they could meditate together. Lu Ten didn’t have the heart to get rid of them, even if Mako now knew Lu Ten wasn’t really a meditative person. 

They also came in handy for times like this, where warmth from a flame was needed but a fire wasn’t an option.

Lu Ten lit the candles before following Mako’s prompting to stand and pull off his pants.

Lu Ten laid in the middle of the tent as Iroh tackled him with a blanket, he then tucked around his body, and Mako pulled his own top off to dry Lu Ten’s hair with.  
“You worried us, you know,” Mako said, now no longer in his mother hen mode.

“I figured,” Lu Ten said, grabbing for Mako’s hand. “I’m sorry.”

Mako kissed the back of Lu Ten’s hand before laying down next to him. Iroh joined them on Lu Ten’s other side. It wasn’t until Lu Ten was surrounded by the warmth of the candles, blankets and his friends that he realized how cold he actually was.

The warmth and cuddles, not to mention the exhaustion from the day, soon had him drifting off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ha, I forgot it was Sunday my bad.


	12. Desert Nights - Mako

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mako, Lu Ten and Iroh start their journey to Ba Sing Se. Iroh meets a sandbender who can take them across the desert.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Iroh sleeps with someone with the intention of testing Mako and Lu Ten, but that's about the only thing I could think that might need a warning.

Mako didn’t know what he would do without Iroh sometimes. The entire time they waited for Lu Ten to return, Iroh sat with Mako and ran his hand through Mako’s hair.

Mako practically ripped himself from Iroh’s arms when Lu Ten came through the tent. He was extremely worried about Lu Ten, and also slightly upset that Lu Ten had done something so reckless without getting them first.

Mako hugged Lu Ten tightly before realizing his boyfriend was soaked to the bone. “Take this off,” Mako told Lu Ten, tugging on his tunic until Lu Ten submitted to Mako’s undressing.

Mako wasn’t following the conversation around him at all, merely trying to get Lu Ten out of cold wet clothes and into dry warm blankets. Mako vaguely felt Lu Ten’s own fingers in his hair, but he was too busy to pay it much mind.

Iroh pulled out Lu Ten’s meditation candles that he never used and Lu Ten lit them before finally listening to Mako and pulling off his pants.

Mako nodded to Iroh who forcefully wrapped Lu Ten up in a blanket. Lu Ten grunted slightly at the impact of Iroh landing on him. Mako couldn’t find their towels so he just pulled off his shirt.

Lu Ten’s ridiculously long hair needed to be dry, or Lu Ten risked getting a head cold. Mako was still worried he would get one anyway.

With Lu Ten now settled safely in the tent, Mako was able to calm down and actually look at his boyfriend.

“You worried us, you know,” Mako said, moving closer to Lu Ten.

“I figured,” Lu Ten replied. He grabbed Mako’s hand and squeezed it slightly. “I’m sorry.”

Mako lifted Lu Ten’s hand and kissed the back of it. He laid down with his head buried in Lu Ten’s neck, where Mako could still smell the water and electricity on him. 

Iroh moved till he laid at Lu Ten’s other side.

Mako felt Lu Ten’s arm warp around his back and pull him closer. He waited until Lu Ten fell asleep, before going to sleep himself.

He was rudely awoken only two hours later by Lu Ten’s snoring.

Lu Ten didn’t snore. Iroh did occasionally when on his back, and Mako knew he did every night, but Lu Ten never really snored. The only time Mako had ever heard him snore was while healing, once from his near assassination and once from his near execution.

“His nose is stuffed up,” Iroh mumbled from his side of Lu Ten.

“So, he’s sick?” Mako asked.

“More than likely,” Iroh replied.

“Fantastic,” Mako groaned.

“I mean he stayed out in the rain all night,” Iroh said. “Not sure what other outcome we really should have expected.”

They were silent for a minute, Lu Ten’ snores practically shaking the tent.

“I’m going to go start a fire the old-fashioned way,” Iroh said. “It’s nearly sun rise, and there’s no way I’m getting back to sleep with Lu Ten practicing his earthbending.”

“He’s not snoring that loudly,” Mako said, laughing slightly. Lu Ten proved him wrong by letting out a particularly aggressive snore.

“That one sounded like it hurt,” Iroh joked. “He might need some water when he wakes up.”

“I’ll handle him when he wakes up,” Mako said, “you go get breakfast ready.”

Iroh mock saluted him before leaving the tent, half dressed and without his mask.

He wasn’t gone long before reappearing. “Zuko and Uncle Iroh are gone,” Iroh said. “They must have left last night.”

Mako looked over at Lu Ten’s still sleeping and snoring form. “Great,” Mako said. “I’m not sure if Lu’s going to hate that or not.”

Iroh shrugged to himself before leaving again.

This time he stayed away and soon Mako could hear the crackling of a fire.

Lu Ten stretched beside him. Mako couldn’t see the sunrise from his position but he could feel the heat on his back and knew that was what woke Lu Ten.

Lu Ten coughed and Mako pulled out a waterskin used for drinking water, not fighting water, and handed it to Lu Ten. His boyfriend practically chugged the water.

When he was done, Lu Ten took a shaky breath before looking pitifully at Mako.

“I’m sick,” Lu Ten said, pouting.

“Iroh and I figured,” Mako said. “What did we learn from this?”

“Don’t go chasing people through the rain, but I was worried Zuko was going to do something drastic,” Lu Ten said.

“I know, but you have to take care of yourself too,” Mako said, sternly.

Lu Ten looked absolutely miserable so Mako, against his better judgement, pulled Lu Ten into a hug. He instantly regretted it when Lu Ten sneezed on his neck.

“Gross,” Mako said, not letting go of his sickly boyfriend.

“Sorry,” Lu Ten replied.

“Soup,” Iroh called, barging into the tent, “for a stupid firebender.”

“I get it,” Lu Ten said, taking the bowl. “Mako already told me I was dumb.”

“Did he already tell you about our MIA guests?” Iroh asked, handing Mako a second bowl before settling crossed legged with a third.

“No,” Lu Ten said, looking at Mako curiously. “Who’s missing?”

“Your father and cousin, skipped out on us last night,” Mako said. “No clue when they left or where they went.”

“Oh,” Lu Ten said, looking down at his bowl. “It’s probably for the best. We need to split back up anyway. The group was good for regaining our strength but now we are all back in action and should probably be heading out.”

“You’re sick,” Mako pointed out.

“Yeah, but still,” Lu Ten said, pausing to drink the broth from his bowl, “we need to leave eventually. Is there more?”

Iroh rolled his eyes but went to refill all their bowls, when the other man pouted pitifully at him.

“Hey,” Mako called, when Iroh returned, three bowls balanced on his arm again. “Where did you learn to carry three bowls like that?”

“My family still owns the Jasmin Dragon, a tea shop in Ba Sing Se,” Iroh clarified for Lu Ten, “even after the passing of Great Uncle Iroh. My grandfather says working there at least once builds character, so my mom sent me there when I was sixteen.”

“I can’t imagine you in customer service,” Mako said, seriously.

“I hated it,” Iroh admitted, “mostly because it was a tea shop, so I was surrounded by tea snobs when I hate tea. It’s really bad when you don’t even like something but you know more than the so-called experts.”

“That’s so odd,” Mako said, shaking his head.

A dagger suddenly went sailing through their tent and landed at Iroh’s feet.

“Grandma,” Iroh said, picking up the weapon.

“Azula found us,” Mako said. “Think Zuko said something?”

“No, Zuko’s just as afraid of her as we are,” Lu Ten said, his expression dark but his voice nasally. “She found us on her own.”

They traded looks as the others started screaming and shouting from their abrupt wake up call.

“We stayed still too long,” Iroh said, pulling on his mask. “The group in our time would have left the area yesterday, but we kept them an extra day. Azula caught up.”

“They need to get out of here,” Mako said, sliding from the tent and rocking the earth under Ty Lee’s feet until the acrobatic girl stumbled. Mako refused to let her get back up, continually knocking her off balance. 

His mask was barely on his face and slipping on one side but he didn’t have the time to fix it.

Lu Ten jumped in behind him and launched a wall of flames towards Azula. “My head is pounding,” Lu Ten groaned. “I hate this.”

Mako went to duck projectiles thrown by Mai, when they slammed into small ice crystals Iroh had put in their paths. The projectiles hit the ice shattering it, before all the pieces fell to the ground.

Katara had a water tentacle wrapped around Azula’s leg to pull her off balance. Azula merely flipped back onto her feet.

“Go,” Iroh said, grabbing Katara’s arm and pushing her towards the sky bison. “We can handle this. She’s mostly after Aang, you need to leave.”

Mako saw Katara hesitate slightly before nodding out of the corner of his eye as he dodged Ty Lee’s attacks. His distraction with the projectiles had allowed her back to her feet.

The kids got on the sky bison, Azula moving to block them and Lu Ten moving to block Azula.

It didn’t end well.

As the kids took off, Lu Ten was struck in the face with a ball of flames and knocked to the ground. He didn’t have the coordination to stop it due to his illness.

Mako saw red and before he knew it, all three girls were sunk into the ground to their hips.

Mako threw Lu Ten over his shoulder, either Lu Ten was getting lighter or Mako was getting stronger. It could also be the adrenaline. Iroh gathered what was important, namely their bags but left their tent set up. All that remained in there were blankets, a few clothes and Lu Ten’s unused meditation candles.

It wasn’t really a loss, even if it was inconvenient. The tent had a hole in it anyway.

They ran, Mako only freeing the girls when they were far enough away that they could see the girls, but they couldn’t see them.

“Let’s get a little further,” Iroh said, “and I’ll look at Lu Ten.”

They stopped on the other side of the small canyon. Mako placed Lu Ten down and winced slightly.

Mako was starting to get alarmed at the number of scars, particularly burn scars, they were collecting. Aside from the two Iroh and Mako had come back in time with, Iroh had gained two more, one on his stomach from their first encounter with the Rough Rhinos and one on his chin and lower cheek from where Zhao had burned him, Mako had gained one from Zuko that spanned his entire right shoulder and slightly up his neck, while Lu Ten had gained two, his forehead scar from his assassination and the chunk of his leg that Fong’s men had taken. Lu Ten was still struggling to walk with that leg due to the torn muscles in the area, something Mako knew frustrated him.

Now, they had this one, which was looking like it would heal about as well as Mako’s shoulder scar. Most of the fire had caught the part of Lu Ten’s hair that was in the area, burning it short next to his left temple, but the skin in the area had burned too.

Mako supposed Lu Ten could count himself lucky he didn’t lose an eyebrow to the burn mark.

“Well, at least his hair will still be even all the way around,” Iroh said. “It’s not growing back in this area. The skin’s too damaged.”

Mako sighed. Lu Ten cared a lot about his hair. He wasn’t sure if he’d be upset by what Iroh just said or not. He probably would be though.

The burn wound healed well enough under Iroh’s touch but it still left a shiny patch of skin behind, nothing like the discolored mess on Mako’s shoulder or arm.

“I vote,” Mako said, “that we stop catching on fire.”

“I second that vote,” Iroh said, falling back dramatically into the dirt.

“What do we do now?” Mako asked.

“Ow,” Lu Ten said, reaching up to his head.

“Welcome back,” Mako said. “We were just about to plan our next move.”

“What happened?” Lu Ten said, looking around in bleary confusion.

“You tried to fight Azula while sick and she nailed you in the temple with fire,” Iroh said. “Your hair won’t grow back there, let that be a lesson.”

“What?” Lu Ten said, reaching up and feeling the scar tissue. “It doesn’t look bad, does it?”

“Other than your hairline being uneven from the other side, not really,” Iroh said. “It barely got your hair, calm down.”

“Lu Ten you still look a million Yuans to me,” Mako said. “Anyway, where are we going next?”

“What are Yuans?” Lu Ten asked, still not seeming to follow the conversation.

“Currency in Republic City,” Iroh answered. He paused before continuing, “I hate to tell you two this, and you are both probably going to get mad, but we need to go to Ba Sing Se next. That’s where Aang, Azula and Zuko are headed. It’s best we stay close to them, as that’s where the war is headed.”

Lu Ten groaned and fell backwards. “Can’t my family leave that city alone?” Lu Ten said. “I don’t want to go back there.”

“We have to,” Iroh repeated. “I’m sorry.”

“Right,” Mako said, “so, straight to Ba Sing Se then? It should take us a bit to get there on foot, the others have a flying bison and I’m not sure how Zuko and his Uncle were getting around before.”

“The quickest way is through the desert,” Lu Ten said. “This isn’t going to be fun is it?”

“Well, we could keep going north next to the desert then along the banks of the Full Moon river and bay,” Mako suggested.

“There’s a White Lotus area near the Misty Palms Oasis, the only issue is Zuko and Uncle Iroh are likely headed that way too,” Iroh said. “It’s a five day walk in the opposite direction though.”

“Can they get us through the desert with little hassle?” Lu Ten asked.

“Sure,” Iroh said.

“Oasis then,” Lu Ten said. “I’m tired.”

Mako soon discovered Lu Ten was a lot of things. Lu Ten wasn’t a fan of sand. Lu Ten was too hot. Lu Ten was thirsty. Lu Ten was lost. Lu Ten was bored. Lu Ten was annoyed. Lu Ten was driving Mako and Iroh crazy.

“We get it,” Iroh finally said, after Lu Ten complained about his headache, “you’re miserable and you hate the desert. We are too, Lu.”

Lu Ten coughed slightly, his head cold still sticking around. Mako was slightly worried about it settling in his lungs. A head cold was one thing but they didn’t have time for pneumonia.

“Sorry,” Lu Ten said, his feet sliding out from under him as he lost his balance in the sand.

Mako caught him, nearly tumbling himself.

“It’s fine, you aren’t use to it, but neither are we,” Mako said.

“I just want to get out of the desert,” Lu Ten said. “I hate how dry the heat is in the Earth Kingdom, I always have.”

“Yeah, I agree,” Iroh said, “I miss the humid heat of the Fire Nation, even if it did leave my hair frizzy anytime I forgot to slick it down.”

Mako shrugged. “I’ve only known Republic City and that climate wasn’t ever really too hot being towards the north,” Mako said. “I don’t think I would like Fire Nation heat any more than this.”

“It can be annoying,” Lu Ten admitted. “There’s a reason we wear so little clothing in the summer and it’s because having a shirt stick to your back is horrible. I’d rather just not wear a shirt.”

“Feels nice when you peel it off, and air it out,” Iroh said. “When the cold cloth hits your skin again, that feels amazing. Better than a summer breeze in my opinion.”  
“Nothing is ever better than a summer breeze,” Lu Ten said. “Besides, I can never get over the fact that its sweat that makes the shirt wet and therefore cold. I’m surprised you can. Seems like something you’d want immediately off your body.”

“It’s what sweat is made to do,” Iroh said, shrugging. “We have to sweat, it’s a body function, but getting covered in mud isn’t a body fiction and therefore I take issue.”

Lu Ten hummed. “I just wish I would sweat now,” Lu Ten said. “My body doesn’t want to.”

“Dehydration,” Iroh said. “It doesn’t matter, the oasis is just up here. We can get you water there. I’m sure they have some even if it’s pricey.”

“You’re a waterbender, just steal some,” Mako said.

“I’m not a criminal,” Iroh said. Mako rolled his eyes. 

“You have a wanted poster and stealing for survival shouldn’t be a crime as it shouldn’t be necessary, though charging for water should be,” Mako insisted.

“Are you sure you’re a cop?” Iroh asked.

“Shut up,” Mako replied, picking up his pace to get away from Iroh and Lu Ten who were laughing at him.

They were all tired and groggy and dehydrated and it was making them a bit snippy at each other. Iroh could deal with the White Lotus tomorrow, today they were finding water, a bed and maybe something to eat.

They walked into the tavern at the back of the settlement. The bar was sunk into the ground to make use of the underground’s natural chill. Mako felt like he could breathe easy for the first time.

He made his way to the bar, dragging Iroh behind him as he tried to head towards the Pai Sho board.

“Tomorrow,” Mako whispered into Iroh’s ear. “Let’s just take tonight.”

Mako filed away Iroh’s shiver for later.

“Sure,” Iroh whispered back.

They sat at the bar and ordered drinks. Lu Ten just wanted water but Iroh threw back a shot of something, Mako missed the name of, before ordering three more. Mako just wanted to rest his head on the cool countertop. A glass of water was placed next to him and Lu Ten took to playing with his hair.

Iroh finished his three shots before turning to Mako and Lu Ten. “I’m just entirely too keyed up today,” Iroh said. “I feel restless.”

“You’re horny,” Mako deadpanned.

Iroh paused for a moment. “Maybe,” Iroh said. He sounded confused, like he wasn’t sure horny was the right word.

“I’m too tired for sex,” Lu Ten said.

“I don’t want sex?” Iroh said, still sounding confused. “Huh, maybe I do.”

“Sex or just you know, getting off, because I can give you a hand job but that’s about as much energy as I have,” Mako replied.

Iroh hummed. “I think he’s more interested, than you two,” Iroh said, nodding towards a man that was watching Iroh closely. “He looks like he gives good hugs, too.”

“Have fun,” Mako said, downing the water Lu Ten had given him.

“Will do,” Iroh said, sliding off his barstool and towards the other man.

“Let’s get a room, then,” Mako said. Lu Ten grabbed his sleeve. “What?”

“Let’s watch Ro a bit longer,” Lu Ten said. “He doesn’t have the best hookup track record.”

Mako groaned but sat back down. “Well his standards are apparently women who look like they can kill him and men that give good hugs, so I’m more surprised he hasn’t ended up in even more weird situations,” Mako said.

Iroh kept shooting them odd looks but eventually he and the other man left.

“There,” Mako said, “he’s not been murdered and if he gets murdered now, that’s on him for leaving for a secondary location.”

“That’s horrible,” Lu Ten said, following Mako from the bar.

The motel Mako had stayed at with Korra, Bolin and Asami was surprisingly still around, or rather already around.

Mako, nostalgically rented the room that would one day be replaced with the room they had stayed at.

“You know, I came through here with my friends once,” Mako said.

“Oh yeah?” Lu Ten asked. He pulled all his clothes off before collapsing on the bed. “I think I have a problem.”

“What?” Mako asked, joining Lu Ten on the bed.

“I don’t ever want to wear clothing to bed again,” Lu Ten replied, “but that’s a personal problem, why where you here before, or well after?”

“We were tracking down this guy who sold out Korra’s location to the Red Lotus,” Mako started. “Korra was nearly kidnapped and we tracked him down here and sat in this room watching him. He never did anything and we eventually broke into his room to find out he was in the spirit world. Korra said he got thrown in the Fog of Lost Souls which is also where Zhao apparently ended up? I don’t know, it’s hard to keep up with all the spirit world stuff. Anyway, Bolin and Asami found an old Pai Sho game and proceeded to argue over it and play it the whole night.”

“Argue over it?” Lu Ten said.

“I don’t know, something about the rules being both different and yet both correct,” Mako said. “I wasn’t really paying attention.”

Lu Ten nodded and stretched out over the bed. “Can you play Pai sho?” Lu Ten asked.

“Enough to scam people, sure,” Mako said.

“My dad was always trying to teach me various board games as a kid,” Lu Ten said. “He claimed they taught a man strategy but all it taught a kid was boredom.”

Mako laughed slightly and rolled over into Lu Ten’s side.

“You know, you sleeping naked isn’t a problem for me, right?” Mako said, bringing them back to Lu Ten’s side comment earlier.

“Flirt,” Lu Ten joked. “I thought you said you were too tired for anything more than a hand job? I wasn’t joking when I said I was, I most certainly am.”

“Hey,” Mako said. “I can look.”

“Guys,” Iroh said, slamming through the door. His hair was a mess and he had lost his shirt somewhere.

“Agni,” Lu Ten startled. “Ro, why?”

“So that guy I just had sex with,” Iroh started, panting slightly, “he’s part of this sandbender group and he said they can take us across the desert on one condition.”

“What’s that?” Mako asked, hesitantly.

“There’s a group of bandits that they often cross paths with,” Iroh said. “They want some unexpected muscle to help them out. I didn’t tell him who we were but apparently we look competent.”

“So, we aren’t going with the White Lotus?” Lu Ten asked.

“No,” Iroh said. “I’m going to try and get passports from them, but sandbenders move across the desert way quicker and he said they’d take us the whole way there.”

“How good did you just dick this guy down, that he’s offering all that?” Mako asked.

“Oh, he just called that a bonus,” Iroh said. “He was originally looking at me to ask us if we were mercenaries or bounty hunters for hire, because we looked the type, he wasn’t expecting the other. We should probably be more careful the closer we get to Ba Sing Se, homosexuality isn’t so accepted this way, even if it is legal. Apparently, I got lucky as sandbenders are descendants of earthbenders and airbenders and he wasn’t offended. Didn’t know that.”

“We leave him alone for like thirty minutes and this is what happens,” Mako said.

“I gave up on understanding Ro years ago,” Lu Ten said. “You just have to let him be.”

“Funny,” Iroh said, pouting at them slightly. “I also just wanted you to know I’m spending the rest of the night with Pavan, and will see you in the morning when we leave.”

“I assume Pavan is the sandbender, and he’s gone,” Mako said, as Iroh left the room before answering him.

Lu Ten laughed. “Let’s just go to sleep, Ro’s fine,” Lu Ten said.

Iroh wasn’t actually fine, as Mako soon discovered the next day.

He came into their room, slamming the door open and waking up Mako. He then tossed their new passports down on Lu Ten’s face, startling him awake, too.  
“What?” Lu Ten asked. “The sun’s not up why are you bothering me?”

“Time to go,” Iroh said, “the sandbenders want to leave now.”

Lu Ten groaned and slammed his head back into his pillow.

They forced themselves awake and joined Iroh and the sandbenders outside. Mako and Lu Ten stood off to the side out of the way as they watched them load the sand-sailor.

“Pavan,” a man called, “tighten up that crate.”

Mako looked towards where the man was gesturing and saw Iroh’s lover from the night before.

“He’s a bit plain looking,” Lu Ten said. “Not what I thought Iroh’s type was.”

“Iroh doesn’t have a sexual type remember?” Mako said. “He’s more concerned about the actual person. He doesn’t experience sexual attraction. I’m sure being aesthetically pleasing to him is a bonus but I don’t think it’s a requirement.”

“Right, but still, Iroh likes interesting people and he doesn’t look interesting,” Lu Ten said.

Mako shrugged. “Maybe he gives good head,” Mako joked. Lu Ten laughed but it was cut off when Iroh hip-checked him as he walked between them.

“Or maybe he’s sweet and funny,” Iroh said, staring at them challengingly.

“Sorry,” Mako said, at the same time as Lu Ten. He didn’t realize until Iroh called them out, just how mean spirited what they just said actually was.

Iroh snorted. “He also gives fantastic head,” Iroh said, winking obnoxiously. He left them standing there and made his way over to cuddle up with Pavan.

“Is Ro, acting weird to you?” Lu Ten asked, tilting his head.

“Weird how?” Mako asked.

“It’s just,” Lu Ten started, “Ro’s not really a nice and funny kind of person. He wants interesting people, not basic people. He wants to be around people with weird hobbies, who look like they have stories to tell, who look like they’d help rebel against the Fire Nation, not desert boys who makes him laugh and probably doesn’t know what the color green is.”

“Maybe he just sees something we don’t,” Mako pointed out. “He seems to like him.”

Mako motioned where Iroh was smiling softly at the other man.

“Right, except when has Ro been this open with anyone before,” Lu Ten said. “Like sure, if he’s in the mood, he’ll have sex with someone right out the gate if he likes them as a person enough, but cuddling? Chaste kisses? Holding his hand? Never, have I seen Ro do those things before with strangers. He’s acting like he’s known Pavan for years, not hours.”

Mako paused and thought back over the night. Now that Lu Ten pointed it out, Mako realized Iroh had been acting oddly.

It had started when he randomly decided to go to Pavan in the first place. Iroh usually went with the familiar over the non-familiar, but that could be waved away as Iroh wanting more than a half-hearted hand job. If that was the only weird thing, Mako might have accused Lu Ten of looking to hard at things, but it wasn’t.

Iroh then proceeded to watch Lu Ten and Mako the entire time he was talking to Pavan at the tavern. Mako assumed Iroh was wondering why they were still there, but that didn’t make sense, as there was no reason for Iroh to assume they would leave immediately. They hadn’t indicated that they would. He had to of been watching them for another reason.

Then he came barging into the room to tell them their new plan which, with it being Iroh, wasn’t actually the weird part. The weird part was how abruptly he told them he was staying the night with Pavan instead of with them. Usually Iroh at least checked if they were okay before he left.

Mako bit his lip as he watched Iroh now. Iroh was sat in Pavan’s lap where they were sat on the sand-sailor waiting for the other men to get back with the last crate. Iroh was being over familiar with a virtual stranger and Lu Ten was right, that wasn’t something Iroh did unless he wanted something from the person he was flirting with.

Mako’s eyes widened as everything clicked into place. Iroh was putting on a show. He probably liked Pavan well enough, and would maybe even keep him in mind as someone safe should he ever come back this way, but Iroh wasn’t interested in him. 

Mako could see it in Iroh’s eyes. They were too calculating for him to be giving genuine affection, but Mako couldn’t figure out why until Iroh ran his hand through Pavan’s hair and then immediately looked towards them.

Iroh’s eyes went wide when he realized how closely Mako was watching him, but he didn’t stop his motions.

Iroh was testing them.

Mako racked his brain trying to figure out why Iroh would possibly be testing them, and over what, when he remembered the last thing that happened between them before running back into Aang and his friends.

Iroh was testing their honesty. He hadn’t had the chance until now, but Mako would bet everything that Iroh was trying to determine if they were honest about accepting an open platonic, though slightly sexual, relationship with him. Clearly the change in their relationship had Iroh on edge.

Mako looked away. He didn’t tell Lu Ten his discovery.

“Yeah, he’s a bit weird today,” Mako said instead. “I think I know why but we can talk to him about it later.”

Lu Ten shrugged and boarded the sand-sailor when gestured to.

“So how long does it take to get across the desert on one of these?” Mako asked.

“Eight to ten days,” Pavan replied, before he took up a stance to begin sandbending.

Mako sat down next to Iroh and Lu Ten as the sails filled with sand and the sand-sailor started moving.

Mako waited until he was used to the movement under him before turning to Iroh.

“Did you figure out what you needed?” Mako questioned.

Lu Ten looked over at them in confusion.

“I’m sorry,” Iroh said, looking down at his hands.

“Don’t be,” Mako said. “I get it, you got hurt, very badly in the past and you needed to know we weren’t just telling you what you wanted to hear. Did you get what you needed?”

“Yeah,” Iroh said, “I’m sorry I doubted you. I’m also sorry that I tested you like I did but I needed to know and just asking wasn’t going to be enough. It’s one thing to say you’ll accept it or that you accept June, it’s another thing to see you accepting me being with someone entirely new. I just, saw an opportunity and used it.”

“Does he know?” Mako whispered.

“I know,” Pavan laughed. “Rozin told me straight out the gate why he came over. It was really confusing at first, as I thought he was looking for a job, ah, a mercenary job, not like a, ah, never mind.”

Iroh laughed. “We get mistaken for mercenaries all the time, at least being mistaken for a sex worker would have shaken things up a bit,” Iroh said.

“Sorry,” Pavan called.

“Wait,” Lu Ten said, “so all that weirdness was a test?”

“Yeah, sorry,” Iroh said, again.

Lu Ten shrugged. “I’m not happy you didn’t just talk to us but I also understand your hesitancy,” Lu Ten said, reaching out to squeeze Iroh’s hand.

“You’re not mad?” Iroh asked. “Either of you?”

“No,” Mako and Lu Ten answered together.

“Oh,” Iroh said, softly. “Okay.”

“I really want to kill that woman,” Mako whispered to Lu Ten, as he realized Iroh was struggling to process Mako and Lu Ten’s reactions.

“Same,” Lu Ten whispered back. Lu Ten pulled Mako into his lap and then pulled Iroh against his side where Mako had been sitting.

Iroh leaned against him with little fuss as the sand-sailor made its way across the desert.

Their travels were long, and Mako was tired of the sun being out during the day and the biting cold of the desert nights. Iroh spend their seven days of travel alternating between spending time with Mako and Lu Ten and spending time with Pavan.

Despite the fact that Pavan was as average as a person could get, and not really the type of person Iroh hung around, something about him stuck to Iroh. Mako knew they didn’t have sex again, as there was nowhere for them to have done it in private, so it wasn’t that. Iroh just really liked him as a friend.

Lu Ten also took to Pavan but Mako himself never got the chance to have a one on one with the guy. He seemed trustworthy enough, as did the rest of this group of sandbenders.

Yeah, they were probably helping this group smuggle something not so legal, if the way they left in the middle of the night was anything to go by, but Mako could live with that. He’d done it before for people less kind and these sandbenders were ultimately a good group of people, as far as Mako knew.

On the third day they ran into the rivals of the sandbenders, apparently another group of sandbenders.

Lu Ten shooting a warning flame towards them was enough to have them veering off towards a tall tower sticking suspiciously out of the ground.

“What’s that?” Mako asked.

“A library,” Pavan answered. “Spirit sunk it several years ago in anger and no one has bothered to go back since. The place is said to be cursed, whether it is or not, you can’t pay me to go messing with spirits.”

“Yeah,” Mako muttered. He’d rather never deal with spirits himself, but that wasn’t possible currently.

They landed on the far side of the desert on the seventh day and Mako could see the road that lead to the ferries to Ba Sing Se, as well as the people on it.

“Our destination is a bit south of here, but we figured we’d bring you here first,” Pavan said. “Thank you for your help, it was nice meeting you all.”

“We didn’t do much,” Lu Ten said with a shrug, “but you’re welcome and thank you as well for bringing us here.”

“I appreciate it,” Iroh said, pulling Pavan into a hug and kissing his temple.

Pavan smiled. “If you’re ever in the desert come find me,” Pavan said.

“With pleasure,” Iroh said, with a wink.

Mako shook his head. “Seriously, thank you,” Mako said, before dragging Iroh away by his collar.

“Hey,” Iroh called, pulling on Mako’s arm. “Let go.”

“Behave,” Mako said.

“Bite me,” Iroh replied.

“Guys, can we focus?” Lu Ten snapped.

Mako and Iroh turned to him in surprised and Mako felt dread settle in his stomach.

Lu Ten looked tense as he looked across the flat lands and the bay that lead to Ba Sing Se. Even this far way, you could still see the towering outer wall.

Iroh placed his hand on Lu Ten’s shoulder.

“It’ll be okay,” Mako said, moving into Lu Ten’s line of sight.

Lu Ten’s eyes were blank as he looked at them.

“We’ll see,” was all Lu Ten said, before making his way to the ferry house, Mako and Iroh trailing worriedly behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter went so far away from what was planned. They were supposed to just get help from the White Lotus but then Iroh got in the mood so I gave him someone to destress with but then that guy turned out to be a sandbender who could take them across the desert.


	13. Return to Ba Sing Se - Lu Ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The guys prepare to board the ferry as chaos drags them down the serpent's pass instead. When they do finally reach the wall there's a nasty surprise waiting for them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Near main character death.

Lu Ten knew he was throwing off his friends with his behavior. The joking and playing atmosphere from the desert had dissipated in the wake of Lu Ten’s worries. He could already feel the memories of battle sneaking up on him as he pulled his eyes away from the wall.

Iroh grabbed his hand when they reached the port, and Mako soon copied him as they walked through the large crowd towards the ticket counter. Lu Ten frowned at how many people were here. He recalled the refugee pathways to the north but that had nothing on the amount of people now crowded in the area. 

There were enough people in the port alone to count as an entire settlement, in fact some of the groups probably were entire settlements.

“Good Morning,” Iroh said, with a smile as he reached the counter. “Can we get three tickets for the ferry across to Ba Sing Se?”

He placed their passports down on the counter and the woman looked them over, before looking the three men over.

“Your names?” she asked.

“Rozin,” Iroh said, before gesturing at Lu Ten then Mako, “and that’s Lu and Mako.”

“Very well, your intentions in the city?” she asked.

“New life and honest living,” Iroh said. “Nothing more.”

She stared him down slightly. “Very well, no outside food on the ferry, no fighting on the ferry and absolutely no bending on the ferry,” she said.

“Thanks, we will remember that,” Iroh said, sliding their passports and tickets off the counter.

“Did something about us ring like trouble?” Iroh muttered as they walked off.

“Three twenty-something men come to a city like Ba Sing Se, by themselves, no women or children or other family in tow,” Mako listed off. “Yeah, we look suspicious.”

“Stupid,” Iroh said, as Mako shrugged.

“Lu Ten’s not helping with how he keeps looking around the room and twitching,” Mako said, rubbing up Lu Ten’s back. Lu Ten watched him stumble slightly through the motion as an older man frowned darkly at them.

“When’s the ferry leaving?” Lu Ten asked, tapping his pointer finger on his leg in nervousness. He ignored what Mako just said, and glared slightly at the man still frowning at them. The man turned away and Lu Ten smirked, in victory.

“Don’t intimidate people,” Mako said, bumping Lu Ten’s shoulder, “you’ll make it worse. The ferry leaves within the hour.”

“Great,” Lu Ten muttered, his anxiety getting the better of him. He reached out for Mako’s hand as a grounding support, only to discover it not where he thought it was. Lu Ten turned and found Mako intentionally wasn’t facing him and had his arms tightly crossed across his chest. Lu Ten felt a sinking feeling in his stomach.

If this was how Mako was going to act in the city, Lu Ten had found another reason to hate it.

Lu Ten instead grabbed Iroh’s hand. Iroh glanced between his hand and Lu Ten before squeezing it slightly. He didn’t seem to have picked up on the new tension between Mako and Lu Ten, even as Mako squinted at them. Iroh only seemed to notice Lu Ten’s anxiety.

Lu Ten frowned. Either Mako held his hand and put up with the stares or he didn’t hold his hand, but pouting that Lu Ten held Iroh’s hand when Mako rejected him wasn’t fair.

Iroh found a weird planter slash benchtop and sat down, pulling Lu Ten with him as their hands were attached. Mako didn’t sit and instead stood, leaning against the wall next to Iroh, even though there was space to sit next to Lu Ten.

There was another person staring at them, this time a woman with two kids. Lu Ten watched her, as she watched them. She turned away when her attention caught Iroh’s attention too. He tilted his head, as if wondering what she wanted before a frown marred his face.

Lu Ten didn’t think he was imagining that Iroh held his hand tighter.

Lu Ten internally sighed. With Mako distancing touch due to stares and Iroh making a point of it for the same reason, Lu Ten was getting pissed off.

He pulled his hand away from Iroh.

“Can one of you hold my hand like a normal person?” Lu Ten snapped.

Iroh winced slightly, before reaching back for his hand.

“Sorry,” Iroh said. “She just pissed me off.”

Mako moved to sit next to Lu Ten and held his other hand. He pulled his hand up to kiss before settling their locked hands in his lap.

“I’m sorry,” Mako said. “I’m not used to the stares. We never had issue before and I don’t want someone to start something here.”

“Weren’t really dating for most of our trips around the Earth Kingdom,” Lu Ten reasoned.

“We were three guys traveling together,” Iroh said. “Most people assumed we were bounty hunters when we weren’t wearing our masks. Towards the end there we got some odd looks but again the west coast of the Earth Kingdom, far away from the culture and control of Ba Sing Se, is more open. Well in some areas. Now we have to deal with people from less tolerant areas. We will be fine. No one wants to risk starting something right now. This is their chance for safety, they aren’t going to ruin it over men holding hands. In the city might be another story though.”

“Just, don’t leave me alone with it,” Lu Ten said softly. “This is hard enough, for all of us, for anyone to be denying affection or politicizing it.”

“Sorry,” Mako and Iroh said at the same time.

“I told you already!” the ticket lady shouted, drawing half the station’s attention towards her and an older man. Lu Ten squinted.

“Does that man look familiar?” Lu Ten asked.

Iroh tilted his head. “A bit,” Iroh said.

“We’ve seen and helped a lot of people,” Mako said, shrugging. “We may encounter a lot of vaguely familiar faces.”

“I guess,” Lu Ten said, watching as a platypus-bear ruined the man’s livelihood.

Lu Ten turned away. “Ah, now those three I recognize,” Lu Ten said, pointing towards the pregnant couple and the man’s younger sister.

“She’s still pregnant?” Mako asked. Iroh slapped him slightly on the back.

“You don’t just ask if a woman is still pregnant, dork,” Iroh said.

“What? It’s been forever!” Mako said.

“It’s been like two weeks if that,” Iroh said.

Lu Ten started doing the math in his head and realized Iroh was right.

“Felt longer,” Lu Ten said, defending Mako.

“Yeah, that’s true,” Iroh replied.

“You three look like trouble,” came a slightly familiar voice. Lu Ten turned only to be confronted with a teenage girl he’d never seen in his life. “The Sons of Agni here? Can’t be good.”

“Hey, Suki,” Iroh said, without even looking.

“How’d you know it was me?” Suki asked, pouting that her game was ruined.

“I’m good with voices,” Iroh lied. “Which works well, as you’re unrecognizable without your make up.”

Suki sighed. “Oh well, I tried,” she said, laughing slightly at her failed attempt to mess with them. 

“Um,” Mako said, “how’d you know it was us? We were wearing masks when we met.”

Lu Ten jolted slightly realizing Mako was right, Suki only knew them in their masks.

Suki shrugged. “You grow up around people in full face make-up, you learn to recognize them by other features,” Suki said, reaching out to pull on Lu Ten’s braid then Iroh’s wolf-tail. “I recognized you from the back.”

“Huh,” Lu Ten said, pulling on his braid himself. He never realized just how distinct his and Iroh’s hair actually was.

Suki’s eyes lit up and a soft smile crossed her face. “I see an easy target,” she said, leaving suddenly. “I hope to see you again before you leave!”

Lu Ten watched her leave and make her way over towards who he quickly realized was Sokka. The group must have made it here around the same time as them, which was odd as Appa should have had them in Ba Sing Se a while ago.

“Tickets and passports please,” Suki said, grabbing Sokka’s tunic.

“Is there a problem?” Sokka asked, slightly worried.

“Yeah, I got a problem with you,” Suki said. “I've seen your type before. Probably sarcastic, think you're hilarious and let me guess, you're traveling with the Avatar.”

Lu Ten smiled slightly watching Suki mess with Sokka. He wasn’t aware the children had known each other but, it was good to see them still acting their age on occasion. Aang was the only one of his friend group who really kept his childish nature fully intact.

“Do I know you?” Sokka asked.

“You mean you don't remember? Maybe you'll remember this,” Suki said, kissing Sokka’s cheek. 

Lu Ten’s jaw dropped.

“Wait, Sokka and Suki?” he asked.

Iroh nodded with a slight smile. “Sokka and Suki,” he repeated, as answer.

“Suki!” Sokka exclaimed.

“Why don’t you ever greet me with that amount of enthusiasm?” Lu Ten asked, turning to Mako.

“Why would a greet you?” Mako said. “You’re like constantly nearby.”

Lu Ten huffed slightly and turned to see the rest of the conversation between Suki and the others, but they had run off somewhere else.

“Than,” the pregnant woman said. Lu Ten had sadly forgotten her name but recognized her voice enough to pick up on it in the crowd. “Where’s our stuff?”

“It’s,” Than said, trailing off as he searched frantically around the area, they were standing in.

“What are we going to do?” she asked. Than’s sister wrapped her arm around her.

“It’s going to be okay, Ying,” Than’s sister said. “We can go find Avatar Aang and ask him for help!”

“I guess,” she said, walking off with the siblings. She still sounded worried and distraught. Lu Ten kept an eye out for them, in case they didn’t find Aang.

“I’m thinking we are going to run into way more than a few people we know,” Lu Ten said, continuing to glance around the room. He spotted the back of a person’s head that looked familiar here and a face that looked familiar there. At one point he thought he saw that Jet kid that upset Mako so much a while back.

“It’s not nicknamed the City of Reunions for nothing,” Iroh said.

“Still,” Lu Ten said. “We’ve helped a lot of people out this way.”

“Yeah,” Mako said. “We could make a game of it. Who can spot the most people we know in the city?”

“We are entirely too competitive for that to be a good idea,” Iroh joked.

The three of them laughed before being interrupted by more commotion with the ticket lady.

“No passports, no tickets!” she yelled. Lu Ten frowned as she stamped Aang’s forehead.

“But she's pregnant and all of her stuff was stolen! You have to make an exception,” Aang pleaded.

Lu Ten freed his hands from Mako and Iroh and stood up. His friends followed him towards the ticket booth.

“No exceptions,” the ticket lady shouted, drawing a crowd. “If I just gave away tickets willy-nilly to anyone, there would be no more order! You know what that means, no more civilization!”

“I think that’s a bit over dramatic,” Iroh said, butting into the conversation. “Order is not the only thing holding society together. The moral thing to do, would be to let her cross.”

Lu Ten’s eyes went wide when the woman tried to stamp Iroh as well. Iroh knocked the stamp from her hand.

“That’s not advisable,” Iroh growled. It lacked the effect that it had with the mask but the ticket lady left him alone after that.

“What if we gave them our tickets?” Aang asked.

“No,” the woman yelled.

Aang tried to get another word in but the ticket lady dismissed him.

“It would have been better,” Mako said, as they walked away, “to have just given them the tickets and moved on. The ferry wouldn’t have checked their passports just their tickets and would have let them on.”

“So why can’t we just do that now?” Sokka asked.

“Because, now they are on alert for ticket trading because Aang said something about it,” Mako explained. “Now they will be checking passports and tickets both at the ferry.” 

“So, what do we do now?” Ying asked.

“Don't worry,” Aang said, “you'll get to the city safely. I'll lead you through the Serpent's Pass.”

“We can help you. We’ve taken people through the Serpents Pass before,” Lu Ten said. “We can do it again.”

“Thank you,” Ying said, nearly crying.

Lu Ten nodded and the group started getting ready to leave. They separated for a bit to round up last minute things.

“I can't believe we gave up our tickets and now we're going through the Serpent's Pass,” Sokka said, for the third time since the two groups met back up at the exit to the station.

“I can't believe you're still complaining about it,” Toph said, cluing Lu Ten in on the fact that Sokka’s probably been saying that for a while.

“I'm coming too,” Suki shouted, now looking more familiar in her Kyoshi Warrior’s uniform.

“Are you sure that's a good idea?” Sokka asked.

“Sokka, I thought you'd want me to come,” Suki asked, in a hesitant tone.

Lu Ten looked away awkwardly as the two had their moment. He tried to tune them out, instead turning to Ying.

“You’re something else,” Lu Ten said.

“What do you mean?” Ying asked.

“Just that you’ll have some stories to tell your kid later,” Lu Ten said, with a slight laugh.

“I suppose I will,” she said with a smile. “First I get save from the Rough Rhinos by the Kyoshi Warriors and the Sons of Agni, then I get an Avatar escort across the Serpent’s Pass.”

“Crazy,” Lu Ten agreed, not cluing the woman in on the fact that the Sons of Agni were still helping her.

They finally got to moving towards the pass as the boats set sail from the harbor. Lu Ten kind of wished he was on one, even though he’d rather not be headed towards Ba Sing Se.

“This is the Serpent's Pass?” Sokka asked, as they approached the entrance. “I thought it would be a little more wind-y, you know, like a serpent. Huh, I guess they misnamed it.”

“That’s not why it’s called the Serpent’s Pass,” Iroh said, laughing.

“They didn’t misname it at all, kid,” Lu Ten said, remembering how scared he was the first time the serpent had appeared from the water.

“There’s an actual Serpent that lives in the left bay,” Mako said. “You have Full Moon Bay and then the Serpent’s Bay, the Serpent’s Pass, the Serpent’s River. Yeah, it’s ugly too.”

“You’re joking,” Sokka said. When Mako shook his head, Sokka turned to Lu Ten and Iroh. “He’s joking.”

They shook their heads too.

“A Serpent!” Sokka whined but no one bother to pay him any mind.

“Look at this writing,” Ying said. “How awful!”

“What does it say?” Toph asked, staring in the vague direction of the sign.

“It says, "abandon hope",” Katara read off.

“How can we abandon hope?” Ying asked. “It's all we have!”

“I don't know,” Aang said, his voice taking a darker tone then Lu Ten ever expected from the kid. “The monks used to say that hope was just a distraction, so maybe we do need to abandon it.”

“What are you talking about?” Katara asked, slightly horrified.

“Hope is not going to get us into Ba Sing Se and it's not going to help find Appa,” Aang said. “We need to focus on what we're doing right now and that's getting across this path.”

“Okay,” Katara said hesitantly, “if you say so.”

“I didn’t realize you lost him,” Lu Ten said. “I’m sorry.”

Aang ignored him.

Iroh grabbed his shoulder.

“Hope isn’t a distraction,” Iroh said. “It’s a motivation you give yourself when all other motivation is lost. You say we need to get across this Pass and you need to find Appa because it has to be done, because you need it to be done. That’s hope, even if you don’t realize it.”

Aang paused for a moment before continuing to walk away.

Iroh watched him with a slight frown before sighing.

“They never told me they lost Appa,” he whispered. “They told all the stories and only now do I realize why they went through the Serpent’s Pass in the first place.”

“Must be hard,” Mako said. “I know Korra would have lost it, if Naga was ever taken. An Avatar’s animal guide is one of their most important connections. Korra told me when she was little how she heard Naga howling out of loneliness, a lost pup in the wild, and she felt a compulsion to go find her against all reason during a blizzard. Korra saved Naga’s life that night by making an igloo for her and the polar-bear dog, and Naga saved Korra from a childhood with no real company.”

Lu Ten looked between Mako and Aang, now realizing that Appa hadn’t just been a pet or transportation, he’d been an essential part of Aang’s development as the Avatar. Lu Ten didn’t think Aang would make it through the rest of his journey without the gentle giant and that wouldn’t be good.

“We can help him look, I guess,” Lu Ten said. “Though how many places can they hide a creature that big?”

“A lot of places,” Iroh muttered. “Trust me, Druk is nearly impossible to find when he’s determined to hide. There are ways to hide even the biggest of creatures.”

Lu Ten pouted at the mention of his cousin’s future dragon. He wanted one but apparently, Zuko got one instead.

“Let’s go,” Mako said, grabbing Lu Ten’s hand, “we’re already being left behind.”

Lu Ten smiled down at Mako, glad his boyfriend changed his stance on handholding.

They walked for a while with only idle conversation springing up here and there before Katara asked why there were so many Fire Nation ships in the Serpent’s Bay.  
“The Fire Nation controls the western lake, or rather Serpent’s Bay,” Suki said. “Rumor has it they're working on something big on the other side of it and don't want anyone to find out what it is.”

“Doesn’t surprise me,” Lu Ten said. “We didn’t realize they’d come this far. We stopped them from trying to find the ferry waystation once but I guess they went around us.”

“We weren’t really watching activity in the north too much,” Iroh added. “There was no reason, it was all colonies but I guess there was a reason. The Fire Nation must have used its hold on the area to get this far.”

It was about that time that the pathway gave out under Than’s foot. Toph managed to catch him before the rest of the group even realized he’d fallen.

Lu Ten saw movement out of the corner of his eye and realized they’d been spotted.

“They've spotted us,” Sokka yelled as the Fire Nation ship launched a fireball at the group. “Let's go, let's go!”

Aang deflected the first fireball but the second one hit the mountain side, causing a small avalanche over where Suki was standing. Sokka knocked her out of the way only for Toph to stop the rocks from hitting Sokka.

Mako took Toph’s move a step further, launching the rock pieces out towards the ship. One slammed into the hull, leaving a fair-sized hole that had the ship scrambling. With the ship distracted the group started moving again.

“Thanks for saving my life, Toph. Hey, no problem, Sokka,” Toph imitated.

Lu Ten looked over at her and realized that Sokka was now fawning over Suki. Lu Ten frowned slightly wondering what had gotten into Sokka. Sure, the kid was protective but not even being locked in the caves of Omashu, had Sokka cared that much. He usually let people handle themselves and only stepped in when needed.  
There was a bit more peace after that. The Fire Nation was probably looking for the group now that they landed a hit but likely couldn’t find them.

They set up camp as the sun was sinking. Lu Ten and his friends still didn’t have another tent so they took to laying down on some of the blankets they still had. Lu Ten was tracing Mako’s lightning burn scar, where his arm was wrapped around his front. He had his other arm warped around Mako’s hip.

Iroh had his head rested on Lu Ten’s stomach and was tracing constellations with his finger.

“Should we be concerned with what Suki said about the Fire Nation planning something?” Lu Ten asked.

Iroh’s arm dropped before he rolled over to bury his face in Lu Ten’s stomach instead. “Probably,” he said, his voice barely distinguishable, “but that’s a problem for later.”

Lu Ten nodded and moved his hand from Mako’s scar, to place it on the back of Iroh’s head.

Lu Ten didn’t think anyone they were traveling with would judge them for cuddling together, still after their interactions in the waystation, Lu Ten felt eyes on him for the longest time.

They fell asleep like that, eventually.

The next morning dawned bright, with Iroh already awake and doing Yoga. Lu Ten chuckled to himself when he noticed Katara had joined him again. Iroh seemed weary but ultimately good-natured about the whole thing. Katara was certainly not used to getting up as early as Iroh, if the bags under her eyes were anything to go by, then again, maybe she just didn’t sleep well. Lu Ten himself didn’t sleep to well the night before, either.

He looked down at where Mako was still using him as a pillow and resigned to the fact that he’d have to wait to go to the bathroom. Though Mako’s leg, hooked over his own with his knee pressing down on Lu Ten’s bladder, wasn’t helping one bit.

It took a while but soon everyone, including Mako, was awake and ready to leave.

They got a fair bit of distance before the next problem occurred.

“They broke it,” Mako said.

“What?” Katara asked.

“They broke it,” Iroh repeated. “The path used to go straight across here. The Fire Nation broke it. I wonder if they did so to stop refugees or if they did it to have access to Full Moon Bay?”

No one had an answer for him, though either option wasn’t good.

“Everyone single file,” Katara called, as she divided the water from the path. Iroh joined her, allowing for the walls of water to reach higher.

“Aang, I need help,” Katara said, as her and Iroh moved to form a bubble. Aang assisted by drawing air into the bubble and preventing the air from collapsing out. 

They walk for a good bit, Lu Ten slightly tense at being under his opposite element. He could swim perfectly fine but that didn’t mean he wanted to right now if the bubble collapsed.

The small lemur that Lu Ten forgot the name, of jumped form the water bubble after a fish. Lu Ten watched the small creature, which made him the first to notice the larger creature headed their way.

“Serpent!” Lu Ten called. “Serpent!”

It was too late as the serpent smashed through the water bubble that Katara, Aang and Iroh had made.

Toph raised the ground so they were above water level only for the serpent to follow them to the surface. Lu Ten had forgotten how ugly it was.

Lu Ten realized Mako had grabbed him and was trying to cover him, though it wasn’t working very well due to the height difference. Still it was sweet to know his boyfriend would quickly protect him, even though what Toph did was more useful.

“I was so hoping you guys were lying about the Serpent!” Sokka yelled. “Suki, you know about giant sea monsters, make it go away!”

“Just because I live near the unagi doesn't mean I'm an expert,” Suki yelled.

“Oh, great and powerful sea serpent,” Sokka said, holding up Momo, “please accept this humble and tasty offering. Thank you.”

“Sokka,” Katara yelled.

Aang blasted the creature with air but all that seemed to do was make it mad. “I'll distract it,” Aang said. “Katara, get everyone across!”

“We will cover the back end and help Aang,” Lu Ten said, as Aang left.

Katara nodded and froze the water to form an ice trail.

Lu Ten noticed the issue almost as soon as Katara created the bridge.

“Hey,” he said getting down to Toph’s level. “We’ll cross with you okay?”

Toph shook her head and Lu Ten traded looks with his friends. They couldn’t just pick her up and carry her.

Katara had joined Aang in trying to fight the serpent.

“Toph, come on, it's just ice,” Sokka shouted.

“She can’t see,” Mako shouted back.

Toph took a step on the ice but shook her head again. Her fear was clear on her face. “Actually, I'm going to stay on my little island, where I can see,” she said.  
“That might not be an option,” Iroh said, trying and failing to stop the serpent from slamming into Toph’s island.

“Okay, I'm coming,” Toph called, her voice shaking slightly.

“I’ll go with you,” Iroh said, offering his arm. “Who better to cross an ice bridge with than a waterbender, yeah?”

Lu Ten saw Toph smile slightly as they walked.

“You’re doing great,” Sokka called. “You're almost there!”

Lu Ten felt his heart plummet as the serpent slammed down on the ice bridge. Lu Ten saw Iroh reach for Toph and the water move as if to sweep them up before he was pulled under the water.

“Ro!” Mako shouted.

“Help,” Toph called. “I can't swim!”

“I'm coming, Toph,” Sokka yelled, but before he could Suki jumped into the water.

“Help,” Toph continued to call as Lu Ten and Mako searched the water frantically for Iroh.

“Where’d he go?” Mako asked, trying to see through the dark depths.

“How long has he been down?” Lu Ten asked. “He can hold his breath for a long time but not forever!”

“He’s got time but I can’t see him!” Mako yelled back.

“Ro!” Lu Ten called.

Lu Ten stepped back slightly as the water started circling by the serpent’s tail. Katara and Aang were creating a whirlpool.

“Stop!” Lu Ten called. “Stop!”

They couldn’t hear him. Iroh had gone down under the serpent which meant in all likelihood he was caught up in their whirlpool.

Before Lu Ten could explain that the serpent crashed into the mountain side. As it sunk into the water, a huge wave formed over the serpent, causing Katara and Aang to move back. The water wrapped around the serpent before solidifying into a ball of ice.

“Good job, Katara!” Aang called.

“I didn’t do that,” Katara said in confusion.

“Ro!” Lu Ten called again, but Iroh was still under the water.

“Fuck,” Lu Ten said, jumping into the water after Iroh. He was hesitant to do so with the serpent right on top but now the giant ice ball wasn’t much danger. 

He only realized after he was in the water that his leg was just as bad at swimming as it was running. Lu Ten growled in frustration and forced himself under anyway.

Lu Ten couldn’t make out much through the water but he could see Iroh floating a little bit away. He reached for his hand, to drag him out when Iroh’s eyes suddenly flashed open.

Lu Ten’s stomach jolted as the water wrapped around them and launched them towards the shore. They washed up on the bank of the path, Iroh coughing and sputtering.

Lu Ten patted his back as the rest of the group joined them, waiting for Iroh to get himself put together.

Mako dropped to his knees next to them.

“Ro?” Mako asked, covering Iroh’s hand where it rested on the ground.

Iroh coughed again, this time water flowing out of his mouth towards the ground. “Add that to the list of things I never want to do again,” Iroh muttered, as he slowly tried to stand.

Lu Ten and Mako helped him up before Mako pulled them both into a near back breaking hug.

“We thought you died, Ro,” Mako said.

“I think,” Iroh said softly, into Mako and Lu Ten’s ears. “I think I did.”

Lu Ten and Mako pulled back to look at him oddly. The rest of the group had moved on to getting ready to start back up their journey.

“What?” Lu Ten asked.

“It was like Zhao all over again,” Iroh explained. “I was drowning, and then I was at the koi pond again. I didn’t return until Lu Ten grabbed me.”

“So,” Mako said, “you didn’t just trap the serpent in the ice?”

Iroh looked over to see what Mako was talking about. “If I did,” Iroh said, “I don’t remember.”

“But it was you who launched us to shore right?” Lu Ten asked.

“Yeah, yeah, that one was me,” Iroh said.

“A warning would have been nice,” Lu Ten replied.

“I’m sorry, next time do you want me to use our telepathic connection or to drown further by trying to talk to you through the water?” Iroh asked.

“Heh, sorry,” Lu Ten said, sheepishly. “Though hopefully there won’t ever be a next time.”

“Honestly,” Mako said, shaking his head, “out of all of us, why does the waterbender keep drowning?”

Iroh popped him slightly on the shoulder as Lu Ten and Mako laughed.

“Are you three, ready to go?” Aang called.

“Yeah,” Iroh said, “be right there.”

The rest of the trip on the path was easy enough. Lu Ten was glad for this as he’d had enough excitement for the day with almost losing Iroh.

“There's the wall,” Sokka called. “Now it's nothing but smooth sailing to Ba Sing Se.”

Lu Ten felt his gut clinch as he stared over towards the wall. He was distracted from his darker thoughts by Ying.

“Oh no,” Ying said, holding her stomach.

“What's wrong?” Sokka whined.

“The baby's coming,” Ying said.

“What?” Sokka asked in panic. “Now? Can't you hold it in or something?”

“What?” Iroh called. “How long have you been having contractions? We might have time to reach the wall. I could carry you.”

“My water broke back at that mess with the sea serpent,” Ying admitted. “I had hoped to be in Ba Sing Se at that point.”

“Why didn’t you,” Iroh started yelling before calming down slightly. “How were you walking through your contractions?”

“Sokka, Rozin, calm down,” Katara said. “I helped Gran-Gran deliver lots of babies back home.”

“This isn't the same as delivering an arctic seal,” Sokka yelled. “This is a real, ah, human, thing!”

“It's called a baby,” Katara said, looking at Sokka like he was stupid, “and I helped her deliver plenty of those, too. Aang, get some rags. Sokka, water. Toph, I need you to make an earth tent, a big one. Suki, and ah, Rozin if that’s okay, come with me.”

Toph created an earth tent and Ying and Than nodded to allow Rozin into the tent.

Lu Ten sat a distance away from the tent, the yelling and screaming getting to be too much for him.

“I hope the baby is okay,” Lu Ten said.

“I mean it’s not early,” Mako said. “It just had poor timing.”

Lu Ten reached for Mako’s hand. “Speaking of poor timing, I’m sorry about dropping the idea of kids on you. We don’t need kids if you don’t want them, we have Ro anyway and he’s more than a handful,” Lu Ten joked.

Mako laughed sightly, before pulling Lu Ten down into a kiss.

“I do want kids,” Mako said, when he pulled back, “but beyond the idea that we both want kids, I think this discussion is best left for later. I don’t want to be like Ying, with the fear that our kid’s going to be raised in a war. I also, I lost my parents young and I have a few hang ups on that still. I just think this conversation is best had later.”

“Okay,” Lu Ten said. “I’m sorry, I just, I really want to build something with you and I hate that I can’t do that yet.”

“Well, who’s to say we can’t build something yet?” Mako asked. “Ba Sing Se isn’t called the City of Second Chances for no reason. We can build the foundations for a family to rest on later.”

“What don’t they call this stupid city,” Lu Ten said, rolling his eyes.

Mako shook his head. “I’ll domesticate you and Iroh yet,” Mako said.

Lu Ten laughed. “I’m not too sure about you getting Ro to calm down anytime soon,” Lu Ten said.

New cries filled the air, and Lu Ten and Mako turned to the tent.

“It’s a girl,” Katara yelled.

Iroh hunched in the rock tent entrance and wave Lu Ten and Mako in.

Lu Ten sat in the corner watching the baby, Mako at his side.

“Yeah, I got baby fever,” Lu Ten whispered.

“Put that on hold, right now,” Mako replied. “We don’t have time for it.”

Aang, who had been sulking outside finally came into the tent. The tent was starting to feel a bit small.

“She sounds healthy,” Toph said.

“She's beautiful,” Katara said.

“It's so, squishy looking,” Sokka replied.

A small smile stretched across Aang’s face.

“What should we name her?” Than asked.

“I want our daughter's name to be unique,” Ying said. “I want it to mean something.”

Aang started crying. “I've been going through a really hard time lately. But you've made me,” Aang paused as if searching for the right words, “hopeful again.”

“I know what I want to name our baby now,” Ying said. “Hope.”

Lu Ten tried really hard to keep a straight face at that. It wasn’t his kid, so he didn’t have the right to comment but it wasn’t exactly unique like Ying said she wanted. Mako buried his face in Lu Ten’s neck and Lu Ten knew his boyfriend was thinking the same.

“That's a perfect name,” Than said. “Hope.”

Hearing it a second time didn’t make the name less corny. At least the kid could say she was basically named by the Avatar, if anyone believed her.

They split off with the two other groups in an attempt to dig into what Suki had mentioned about a secret Fire Nation plot. Mako could sneak them back into the city later, but if that was another attempt at the wall, Lu Ten wasn’t going to let it happen.

When they got close enough to the wall, Lu Ten’s heart dropped. There was a giant drill working its way through the wall.

“Why can’t they ever leave things alone?” Lu Ten asked.


	14. Penetrable City - Mako

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mako, Lu Ten and Iroh help take down the drill, only for Mako to discover a bigger challenge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Lu Ten's PTSD, near character death, talk of poverty.

Mako and his friends ran forwards toward the drill but it took them more time than expected to reach it. By the time they made it to the wall, it seemed like the Earth Kingdom military was already handling the situation. A small team of earthbenders were making their way towards the drill.

“Ready,” the team leader called, “attack!”

The team erected large earth pillars into the side of the drill’s shell, halting its movement.

Lu Ten has slowed his pace slightly when it appeared to have worked.

Iroh kept running and Mako stalled somewhere between the two, not really sure what was going on.

A familiar hissing noise filled the air and Mako turned to see the drill splitting into segments and crushing the earth pillars as it moved. 

“Fuck,” he heard Lu Ten call, before his boyfriend doubled his speed, for what it was worth on his bad leg, and tried to regain his lost ground.

The shards of the pillars rained down on the earthbenders and Mako was too far away to make much of a difference. The earthbenders created rock shield as earth and knives launched towards them. Mako turned in the direction the knives were coming.

Mai and Ty Lee were sliding down the side of the drill.

Iroh launched one of his own throwing knives towards Mai, causing her to stall in her decent.

Ty Lee hit the ground and quickly dispatched the men with her acrobatic chi-blocking. The was a pink blur in the tan of the desert. It said something that a fourteen-year-old girl was now standing over the bodies of at least ten grown men. Mako wasn’t entirely sure if it spoke to Ty Lee’s skill or the earthbender’s lack of it, probably both.

“Should have aimed for Ty Lee,” Mako called over to Iroh.

“Probably,” Iroh responded as they pulled up next to the drill.

Ty Lee started cartwheeling in their direction but Iroh slammed her back against the drill and froze her there, without even bothering to look.

Lu Ten managed to catch up, panting slightly as he rested his hand on Mako’s shoulder for balance.

“We need to get these men out of here and see about finding Aang,” Lu Ten said.

A knife imbedded itself into Mako’s shoulder and it said a lot about his growing pain tolerance that it took him a minute to realize it happened. He looked up and saw Mai standing at the foot of the drill, attempting to guard Ty Lee.

Iroh was already healing Mako’s stab wound, his eyes never leaving Mai.

There was a standoff between the two before some type of mutual understanding passed between them.

Iroh turned his back on Mai, moving to pick up one of the fallen soldiers, now that he was done with Mako’s arm.

They slowly dragged them men away towards the base of the wall where they were met with more soldiers. They passed them off and soon all of them had been returned to the wall.

The soldiers seemed grateful for their help and didn’t question them following them up the wall. Mako wasn’t sure that was the most effective security method but it worked in their favor, so he didn’t question them.

“Hey,” Aang called when he saw them, “you guys made it! We could use your help. I saw you guys fighting down near the drill.”

“Yeah, it’s hard not to notice it,” Mako said. “We tried to get here as quick as we could but it was a struggle.”

“Katara’s working on healing the soldiers, if Rozin wants to help her,” Aang offered. “Sokka’s coming up with a plan to take out the drill.”

Mako nodded, following behind Aang as the airbender led them to the medical area. Iroh moved forwards to help Katara with healing, immediately.

“His chi is blocked,” Katara said. “Who did this to you?”

“Two girls ambushed us,” the soldier she was talking to said. “One of them hit me with a bunch of quick jabs and suddenly I couldn't earthbend anymore and I could barely move. Then she cartwheeled away.”

“Ty Lee,” Katara explained. “She doesn't look dangerous, but she knows the human body and its weak points. It's like she takes you down from the inside.”

“Mai was there too,” Iroh said, “she got Mako but he’s already been healed, so he’s ready as ever.”

“Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh,” Sokka yelled.

“Yes?” Katara asked, watching her brother like he was an idiot.

“What you just said,” Sokka said. “That's how we're going to take down the drill. The same way Ty Lee took down all those big earthbenders.”

“By hitting its pressure points,” Toph finished.

“We'll take it down from the inside,” Aang said, looking over the wall towards the drill.

“Why are these kids smarter than us?” Lu Ten asked. He looked slightly put out that the kids had solved the issue without his help.

“Speak for yourself,” Mako said, following the kids from the room.

Lu Ten pouted as he trailed behind him.

Iroh patted the solider he just healed on the knee before joining them.

They quickly moved towards the base of the wall.

“We will need cover,” Iroh pointed out. “They will see us coming. The Fire Nation puts scopes on all their machinery. Tanks, ships, forts, all of it. This thing has to have one too.”

“Right,” Sokka said, “but where?”

“We don’t have time to figure that out,” Mako said. “We just need cover.”

“I can whip up a dust cloud,” Toph said, “but no one else will be able to see other than myself or Mako.”

“You keep your friends close to you and I’ll keep mine close to me,” Mako said. “We can make it.”

“We kind of have no other choice,” Lu Ten said.

“Why’d you have to make it negative?” Iroh joked.

Toph ignored them and nodded, stepping out of their hideout near the base of the wall. The dust started swirling around them and Mako wasted no time grabbing Iroh and Lu Ten as Toph yelled, “Run!”

They raced away from the wall. He couldn’t see as well as Toph could, his vision still being hazy as he couldn’t see through the dust like he wished to, but he wasn’t at risk of it damaging his eyes like the others. Toph was lucky she could see with her feet.

Mako paused slightly, no longer able to see Toph. That wasn’t good. Without her or her friends to see, Mako had no clue where he was. He kicked up his own dust cover, to keep them hidden in case they fully lost the others.

He closed his eyes to focus. He’d have to try seismic sensing again, even it only worked so well for him.

“Mako?” Lu Ten asked.

Mako ignored him, focusing on the earth. 

“Mako?” Lu Ten asked again.

“Shh,” Mako said, “I need quite, I’m not good at this.”

“Quite for what?” Lu Ten asked. “Ow, Ro, why’d y-”

Lu Ten’s voice cut off in to a muffled sound. Iroh must have covered his mouth.

Mako tuned the other two out. He felt it, faintly, a tapping on the ground where the others were running. He dragged them in that direction, opening his eyes only when the group reached the edge of the drill.

Mako reached them as they were jumping down into a hole Toph had made. Mako nudged Iroh into it, helping the other man find the hole, but came to a halt before jumping down himself. He turned. His gaze landing on the hand he was holding and he followed it up to Lu Ten’s face. It was open and trusting, even if his eyes were closed.

This was the problem with winging things, you never knew what was coming and Lu Ten wasn’t prepared to go underground.

Mako nodded to himself, taking complete control of the dust storm he and Toph had kicked up.

“Go with them,” Mako yelled at Iroh.

“Wait, what are you doing?” Iroh yelled back, his face coming back into view. His eyes were screwed shut against the dust.

“Distraction,” Mako replied. “You’re not getting Lu Ten in that hole.”

“Hole?” Lu Ten asked, his face turning in Mako’s general direction.

“No,” Mako said kissing him. “No, hole.”

“Right,” Iroh said, his face softening as he realized what the issue was. “I’ll help them on the inside. See you when it’s over.”

“Don’t do anything stupid,” Mako called.

Iroh gave a rude gesture towards nothing and ducked into the hole. It closed up behind him and Mako shivered. It reminded him of the time General Fong tried to execute Lu Ten. Watching Lu Ten vanish beneath the ground had nearly destroyed Mako, and the military base.

Mako squeezed Lu Ten’s hand tighter.

“Come on,” Mako said, pulling Lu Ten’s hand. “We need to keep Ty Lee, Mai and Azula’s attention on us and off what’s going on inside.”

“Why didn’t we go with the others?” Lu Ten asked.

“They went underground,” Mako said. “We’re staying top side.”

“I love you, too,” Lu Ten said, squeezing his hand tightly.

Mako smiled slightly at that, before frowning as he thought about what they’d do instead. This plan was already going sideways.

“Are you good to fight?” Mako asked.

“My eyes are closed,” Lu Ten said.

Mako rolled his eyes. “If I drop the dust, are you good to fight?” Mako asked, again.

“Oh, sure,” Lu Ten said.

Mako nodded before dispelling their dust cloud and sinking the ground near the back of the drill.

As the back end of the drill started sinking an alarm went off inside the machine.

“Well, you’ve riled them up now,” Lu Ten said, his eyes now open.

Mako laughed slightly, reaching over to wipe the dust off his cheek. His face was coated in it, Mako’s probably wasn’t much better. Iroh would be pitching a fit once this was over.

“Then let’s rile them up some more,” Mako said. He moved to make the ground as uneven as possible under the drill, the alarms from before being joined by new ones.

It didn’t take long for Mako’s terrain rearrangements to have Fire Nation soldiers dropped down on top of them.

Mako couldn’t help but wonder where Mai and Ty Lee were. If they weren’t being sent to stop them, then where were they?

The drill slowed exponentially and Mako could make out the tiniest of figures under the drill. Toph was holding the drill in place as best she could from underneath.

Mako’s attention was redirected to the soldiers, who had now caught up with him and Lu Ten.

The soldiers were slightly thrown off when Lu Ten started firebending. They backed away slightly but the surprise wore off soon enough and the two were quickly surrounded.

Mako slid the ground under the one closest to him back until the man slammed into the wall. His head snapped back against it and a blood trail followed him to the ground as he slid down the wall.

Mako winced slightly before moving on.

Lu Ten had downed two more of the ten soldiers sent after them. He was currently fighting off three of them. He had one who’d gotten too close by the neck, and the other two were being held back by his firebending.

Mako moved and round house kicked a rock into the stomach of a soldier sneaking up behind Lu Ten.

Lu Ten threw the soldier he was holding into the other two he was fighting, knocking all three to the ground. Mako dropped them into a hole.

There were three men left and one was looking like he was seconds from bolting. When Lu Ten lashed out with a fire whip, separating him from the rest, he did run, taking off towards the Bays.

Mako wondered if the man would make it before the Fire Nation’s death penalty caught up to him.

The other two launched into fighting, shooting fireball after fireball at Mako and Lu Ten. Mako pulled up a wall blocking the fire as Lu Ten launched attacks over it.

Mako heard a scream as one man got hit and he felt the vibrations of someone running back towards the drill.

“Well,” Lu Ten said, “that was fun.”

“I don’t like your definition of fun,” Mako complained.

Lu Ten grinned shamelessly at him, before the two ran towards the wall again. They paused at a sharp grinding sound filled the air.

“They’ve reached the wall,” Lu Ten yelled.

“Well, what do we do now?” Mako asked, as he watched the drill slowly grind away at the wall.

“I,” Lu Ten said, looking around. His eyes locked on the wall, and Mako had never seen his boyfriend look so small. “I don’t know.”

Mako looked at Lu Ten for a moment, seeming to understand something was happening in his mind. Lu Ten up until this point had always had, even a semblance of, a plan. Now, he was looking around the area lost. Lu Ten knew what to do when they were battling it out in the west with the soldiers from the colonies and even in confrontations with his cousins, but it was like the City’s mere presence was slowing him down.

“Lu Ten,” Mako said, grabbing his boyfriend’s wrists, “we don’t need to stop it, just distract and slow it down. What do we do now?”

Lu Ten was still looking at the wall, so Mako grabbed his face instead. “Lu Ten,” he repeated, pulling his face around to Mako’s.

Lu Ten looked him in the eye. There was a lot of emotion swirling in his golden eyes, some like fear easily identified and others remained a mystery.

“Lu Ten,” Mako said again, not sure what else he could say in this moment.

“We need to get to the wall,” Lu Ten said. “Can you collapse the ground at the front of the drill like you did the back?”

“Yeah,” Mako said, pulling Lu Ten into a kiss. He wasn’t quite sure if he did it for himself or Lu Ten. “I can collapse the ground.”

Mako pulled back, and Lu Ten looked up at the drill, his eyes hardening with determination.

Mako felt relief build in his chest and hoped Lu Ten stayed like this.

He and Lu Ten moved closer towards the wall, and Mako dropped the ground under the drill. Instead of drilling through the wall straight across the drill had now caught the wall at a downward angle. It was drilling through the ground more than the wall. It would take them a lot longer to make it through that way.

Lu Ten took up a guard position at Mako’s back as Mako searched out more places in the earth to rough up the terrain. He kept an awareness out for Toph at all times not wanting to sink the other into the ground on accident.

More soldiers were sent for them but still no Mai or Ty Lee, which was getting more and more concerning the longer it didn’t happen.

Lu Ten’s back slammed up against his own and Mako took this as his cue to jump into the fight alongside Lu Ten.

Mako held his ground for as long as he could before he was knocked back down into one of his pits. He kept sliding down unable to catch himself on the dirt even as he tried to bury his feet and hands into it. It had become sand under the pressure Mako had put on it. Mako regretted not asking those sandbenders to teach him a bit when he had the chance.

He looked up to see how hard hitting the ground would hurt, only to panic when he realized he was headed towards the drill head.

“Lu Ten,” he shouted, hearing the fear in his own voice.

“Hold on, Mako,” Lu Ten shouted. It sounded far away and Mako could hear the flames being produced as he slid further down the hole.

Mako closed his eyes even as he tried to pull his foot higher up the mound of sand. He only slid closer to it as the sand was too loose to hold him up.

Mako gritted his teeth and pushed at the earth in the hopes he’d force it back together, so he could climb out. 

Something else happened instead.

The drill moved, ever so slightly. It was enough for Mako to slide down harmlessly next to the casing of the drill rather than the bit that was spinning and grinding rock. The bit that nearly grinded Mako.

Mako sat on the ground next to the drill for a moment, wondering if he had really just done what he thought he did.

He put his hand on the metal and pushed but nothing happened. He tried reaching out to feel the minerals in the metal. There was nothing but the feel cold of metal against his hand.

He probably just got lucky. The drill moved on its own. That had to be it. It slid on the sand the same way Mako did.

Mako removed his hand and now that he was once again on firmly packed earth, launched himself up and out of the hole. He landed next to Lu Ten, startling the last few soldiers of this round with his sudden appearance. He took advantage of their surprise and knocked them into a hole of their own.

“Are you okay?” Lu Ten asked, grabbing Mako’s arm. “I heard you scream but I was surrounded.”

“I’m fine,” Mako said, glancing back at the hole with the drill head. “Just, thought I was going to die and didn’t.”

“Well, I’m glad you didn’t die,” Lu Ten joked.

Mako huffed before looking towards the top of the drill when he heard a hatch open. He feared for more soldiers but it was only Aang.

“Whoa,” he called, “what happened up here?”

“Hey, kid,” Lu Ten called, waving. “Mako’s been rearranging the geological features. Do you like what he did to the place?”

“Look’s great,” Aang called, moving towards the top of the drill. “Ah, General Sung, tell your soldiers to stop shooting rocks down here!”

“I don’t think he can here you,” Mako called back.

“Monkeyfeathers,” Aang yelled. “Oh, well this is as good a spot as any.”

Aang was forced to leap out of the way as more rocks fell on him.

“Babe, get me up there,” Mako said, gesturing towards Aang.

“Got it,” Lu Ten said, linking his hands together to make a foothold for Mako.

With Mako now blocking the hits from above Aang was able to focus on the drill.

“What I’d give to be a metalbender,” Aang said, after a while of cutting into the drill.

Mako bit his lip as he deflected another rock.

Aang’s lemur shrieked as a blue fire blast shot towards them.

Mako could hear Lu Ten cursing from the ground as he tried to climb up on the drill. Mako gave him a slight boost, as well as he could so far from the earth, and soon Lu Ten’s bright yellow flames were firing towards Azula.

While Lu Ten and Azula fought in the background, Aang tried again to get a hole in the drill.

Mako, finally irritated with the falling rocks, launched one back up the wall. There were shouts of surprise but the rocks stopped falling.

“Uh, what?” Mako asked, as an odd mix of dirt and water came spewing out of the drill. It coated the top of the drill and Aang went sliding away from his hole. He slammed into the wall before Azula followed. Mako winced slightly when Lu Ten then slid into the wall behind both of them.

Lu Ten wasn’t a small person so that had to have hurt.

Azula pushed back sending Lu Ten sliding towards Mako. Her and Aang then went sliding in opposite directions off the sides of the drill.

Azula hit the ground but stayed on her feet while Aang airbended his way back up. Mako sighed to himself as the guards at the top of the wall started throwing boulders again. Lu Ten flinched slightly but Aang used the boulder to his advantage.

With no more distractions he finally managed to create a hole big enough to bust the drill apart. He bent a boulder into a wedge before moving to jump on it.

As Aang rushed up the wall, Azula rejoined them on top of the drill. Lu Ten moved to intercept her as Aang dropped down onto the wedge he had made.

There was a ripple effect that caused the odd liquid mixture to coat the entire drill. Mako sputtered as some of it was launched into his face and, he and Lu Ten were sent over the side of the drill from the force.

“Sorry,” Mako said, as he landed on his boyfriend’s stomach.

“Ah,” Lu Ten groaned, rubbing his stomach once Mako rolled off him. “It’s what I’m here for. To love you, protect you, provide a landing platform for you. All in a day’s work for your loving boyfriend.”

Mako smiled. “I’ll make it up to you later,” Mako said.

“Worth it then,” Lu Ten said.

“Hey,” Iroh said, sliding over to them. He was coated in the slurry that surrounded them. Mako was surprised he wasn’t complaining about it. “You two did great, it looks crazy out here.”

“Thanks,” Mako said. “I almost died.”

“What?” Iroh asked.

“Nothing, good job on your end too,” Mako said, laying back down on Lu Ten. Lu Ten’s arm wrapped around his waist and held him tightly.

“What now?” Iroh asked.

“Now, we get into the city,” Lu Ten said, staring vaguely up the wall.

“I can get us back in,” Mako said.

“The same way you snuck us out?” Iroh asked.

“Hey, being friends with Wu has it’s perks,” Mako said.

“I guess, let’s go before something else happens,” Iroh said.

Lu Ten groaned slightly but pushed Mako up and off his lap as he stood.

The three of them took off, grabbing their stuff from where they had dropped it before the battle and then walking towards the wall. Mako ran his hand along the wall, hoping there was a spot closer to them than the one he knew about. That one was miles away.

He found one though, strangely enough, only a mile away from the drill. He paused slightly.

“What?” Iroh asked looking around.

“Just, with all these holes already in the walls, how much damage could that drill have done if it drilled here instead?” Mako asked.

Iroh and Lu Ten traded a look.

“Better not to think about it,” Iroh said.

Mako shrugged and opened the hole in the wall. He held Lu Ten’s hand tightly as they walked through the small tunnel.

“Are we walking to the other wall or taking the train?” Iroh asked.

“Do we even still have our passports?” Lu Ten asked.

“I have mine still,” Mako said, pulling his out. It was wet and covered in the slurry stuff, but it was still a passport, sort of.

“I think mine disappeared with the serpent ordeal,” Iroh said sheepishly after patting down his pockets and digging through his bag turned nothing up.

“Oh, good,” Lu Ten said. “I mean, not good but I didn’t want to be the only one who lost theirs.”

“So, because you two can’t keep ahold of your papers, we now have to walk to the city and hope no one ever asks for ID?” Mako asked.

Iroh and Lu Ten traded another look.

“Yes,” they said together.

“Hey, if we stay in the lower ring, no one will care,” Iroh said. “Granddad said they had bigger worries then whether you were there legally or not.”

“Do you have any clue how hard living in the lower ring is?” Mako asked.

“Um, no,” Iroh replied.

Mako shook his head. “I’m taking two princes to go live in the lower ring of Ba Sing Se,” Mako muttered to himself as he stared walking. “One of them is going to get mugged and the other killed, just watch them.”

“I think he means you for that last one,” Iroh whispered to Lu Ten.

“Probably, but at least I die with my money, you got mugged, loser,” Lu Ten said.

“And what do you plan to do with that money when you’re dead?” Iroh asked.

“Wait for you to die too, so I can laugh at you about it,” Lu Ten said.

Mako sighed to himself as Iroh and Lu Ten spent the next hour trying to one up each other with what bad things might happen to them in the lower ring. The longer they went, the worse their ideas got.

“Stop,” Mako called, after Iroh insinuated Lu Ten would get tied up with a prostitute ring. He had been ignoring them for the most part but every comment was building up in the back of his mind and now he was shaking with how mad he was at them.

He thought they had moved past their issues with class differentials with the whole Jet fiasco, but apparently not.

“First off, shut up about sex workers okay?” Mako said, his hands balling into fists to stop them from shaking. “They do what they have to do and a lot of times they aren’t there of their own choice. That’s not funny. Iroh getting mugged by someone isn’t funny either. There’s a lot of reasons it could happen and none of them are funny. People get desperate and they do inadvisable things. Nothing about that is a joke. Lu Ten dying because he gets in the crossfire of a gang war isn’t funny. Do you know how many people I’ve seen that happen to in my job? You think it’s funny to joke about it happening to my boyfriend? Oh, but the lower ring is just a cesspool of crime! No, it’s not, it’s mostly honest people trying to make a living but because their clothes are unkempt, because of lack of resources, people think they are bad. Poor people trying to live in a hostile area with little resources isn’t funny.”

Mako looked over his friends. Iroh’s mouth had dropped open slightly and Lu Ten was looking at him with a mix of surprise and hurt.

“Yeah, there will be muggers, and drug addicts, and gangs, and sex workers there because for every person struggling there’s going to be someone trying to take advantage of their suffering,” Mako said. “That doesn’t make those caught up in it, bad people. The only bad people caught up in it are the ones manipulating these situations and those who do it for fun, because if you think, it’s only poor people who do these things, it’s not. Rich people do them too, but for shallow reasons. So, don’t joke like these are issues only found in the lower ring, because they aren’t, it’s just more obvious there.”

“I’m sorry,” Lu Ten said, his voice sounding strained. “I wasn’t thinking.”

“That is obvious,” Mako said, turning to walk away.

Lu Ten grabbed his hand. “Mako, please,” Lu Ten said, his voice cracking. “Please, I won’t make any more jokes. I just didn’t realize. I’m listening to you now, please.”

Mako sighed. “Just, stop talking about it,” Mako said. “You won’t get any positive reactions in the lower ring, thinking like that.”

“Okay,” Lu Ten said, holding Mako’s hand tighter.

Mako left it alone, and allowed Lu Ten’s death grip on his hand continue.

“I’m sorry, too,” Iroh said, coming up on Mako’s other side. “I think my mother would have actually killed me if she heard me talking like that.”

“I just don’t get how you two can help poor families and be friends with mercenaries and turn around and make fun of people just like them,” Mako said. The unspoken implication that his friends could go from being okay with Mako, to mocking people who came from the same background as him, was left unspoken but Iroh and Lu Ten must have understood it, as they both flinched.

“Because we’re insensitive assholes who don’t think things through before we say them and we need to work on that,” Lu Ten said. “I never meant to imply their situations where funny. That your situation was funny. I didn’t realize the full impact of what I was saying and I’m sorry. I will think more before I talk from now on.”  
Mako nodded but said nothing. 

“Please, Mako,” Lu Ten said, cupping his face. “I don’t think less of you because of where you came, or less of any of the people in the lower ring no matter what they do. I love who you are and the only reason I’d want your past to change is because I know you would have been happier had your parents lived, not because I don’t want you to have a criminal past. I don’t want you to think because Iroh and I are stupid, that we don’t love you. I’m sorry I said those things and I’ll try harder to understand. I love you.”

Mako stared up at Lu Ten. He was genuine in his want to fix what he hurt but he still hadn’t seen the lower ring yet.

Mako licked his lips before nodding. He would accept for now that Lu Ten and Iroh were honest in their attempts to understand more, and that there would be the occasional backslide like today. He had been there when helping break Lu Ten of his imperialistic mind set, he knew growth took time and was never linear. He’d wait until the two were forced in the deep end, to see if they were talking out of their asses or not.

Lu Ten still didn’t let go of his hand and the other two kept silent for their three-day trek towards the inner ring.

Mako kept spinning what happened through his head.

He didn’t know what to do about it. It was easy enough to ignore it but that sat like a lead weight in his stomach. It would be horrifically hard to cut the two off, even the idea of it had his heart hurting. 

He hoped the situation would work its self out as they lived in the lower ring. Surely the two would start to get it, as they themselves experienced the poverty that plagued the lower ring.

Another part of Mako though, was screaming at him. That part of him never wanted Iroh and Lu Ten to understand at all. That side wanted the two of them bright eyed and clueless. He wanted them oblivious to such strife. He didn’t want them to have that firsthand experience at all.

That Mako wanted to wrap them up and place them on the highest shelf where the truth couldn’t reach them.

They couldn’t live like that though. Not only because it wasn’t fair to hide Lu Ten and Iroh away from the world but also because it wasn’t fair to Mako himself. He needed Lu Ten and Iroh to understand, even if it hurt, because them not understanding hurt even worse.

They reached the inner wall at sundown on the third day, which worked in their favor as they were able to avoid detection under the shadows of the evening.

Mako led them around the wall, feeling along for another tunnel. He found one after two tense hours of searching and dodging guards.

“Welcome to the lower ring of Ba Sing Se,” Mako said, dragging Lu Ten out the other side of the tunnel.

“It’s ah,” Lu Ten said.

“Don’t bother,” Mako said, cutting off whatever his boyfriend was about to try and pull. “It’s barely standing buildings and streets kept up as best they can.”

“So, where to now?” Iroh asked, turning to Mako.

Mako raised a brow at that but conceded that he knew more than either of the others.

“First, a place to sleep,” Mako said. “Then tomorrow, a place to clean up, there are usually houses that let you do that and grab food but those are few and far between down here, if Tu was telling the truth when we discussed it. Once cleaned up, we find jobs, with job we get money and can look for a place to stay.”

“So, where are we sleeping?” Lu Ten asked. “We lost our tents and we can’t sleep just anywhere in a city, like we could on the road.”

“Says who,” Mako said, leading them off the main road and into an alleyway that was tucked between what looked to be a butcher shop and a residential home.

Mako laid out his sleeping roll and tucked his bag under his head as he laid down. “No one but a skilled, brave or foolish mugger will take something you’re sleeping on,” Mako explained.

“Alright then,” Iroh said, moving to lay down next to him.

Lu Ten followed, cuddling up into Mako’s side. Mako felt something lumpy squished between them, but said nothing as he realized it was his boyfriend’s stuffed fire slug.

Mako wrapped his arm tightly around Lu Ten, knowing now and days the fire slug only made an appearance when he was upset.

As he drifted off to sleep in the alleyway, he couldn’t help but wonder why breaking into Ba Sing Se proved easier than navigating his relationship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To clarify why Iroh and Lu Ten's jokes bothered Mako so much, it's because when Mako made his joke it was about how clueless his friend were while when Iroh and Lu Ten were making their jokes it was about all the "nasty" things that people do to others in the lower ring and Mako wasn't having it.
> 
> Not 100% happy with how this chapter turned out but I have zero clue how to fix it.


	15. The Lower Ring - Iroh

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mako leads Iroh and Lu Ten through their first day in the lower ring, they meet an old friend and Lu Ten struggles to find a job.

Iroh woke up with a crick in his neck. While sleeping on the ground was nothing new, he’d never actually slept on pavement before. There had been a loose cobblestone digging into his hip the whole night.

Iroh was getting too old for things like this.

“Ah,” he said, leading up and feeling a soreness in his hip. He bit his lip before breathing through the pain. He just needed to walk it off.

“You okay?” Mako asked, somehow awake before Lu Ten, who despite the sun being very clear in the sky, was still knocked out cold asleep.

“Sore,” Iroh said. “I’ll be fine.”

Mako nodded slightly before shaking Lu Ten awake.

“Hey,” Mako said, kissing Lu Ten as his eyes fluttered open. “We need to get moving. We have a lot to do today.”

Lu Ten stretched, making a squeaking grunting noise as he did so.

“Okay,” Lu Ten said, sitting up, “lead the way.”

Mako waited until they gathered up all their things before leading them out onto the street.

“Tu said that Ba Sing Se was known for its large number of bathhouses,” Mako said. “I know for a fact that in the Upper Ring they are more like spas, but the ones down here? No clue.”

“You mentioned food too?” Iroh asked.

“Yeah,” Mako said. “In Republic City, baths and food came in the same place, homeless shelters. They weren’t very friendly places in a lot of cases but Bolin and I made use of a few. Here, well, I’m not sure where one might find a free bite to eat if I’m honest.”

Mako seemed to pick up on Iroh’s trepidation with that answer.

“Hey,” Mako said, grabbing Iroh’s arm, “don’t worry about it. I won’t let you two go hungry, okay?”

Iroh nodded slightly and followed Mako in silence.

While Iroh wouldn’t call their life on the road luxurious, he was starting to realize they had it pretty easy the last few years. Rarely did they have to camp rather than sleep in a bed. Iroh was usually able to get money quickly with little effort and often they didn’t have to pay for anything in the first place. The Sons of Agni were usually given things, but here, they barely existed as a whisper.

They only had the handful of coins in Iroh’s bag, and nothing more, to their name. Iroh could try to trick a bit of money out of others, but something told him it would be a lot harder here.

Mako stopped outside a stone building, and held his hand out to Iroh.

Iroh stared at it a moment before realizing the bathhouses probably cost money.

He handed the money pouch over and Mako counted it carefully, tilting his head this way and that. His eyes were jumping around as if keeping up with some unseen equation in the air.

“Shit,” Mako muttered. “Okay, we’ll be fine.”

Iroh traded a look with Lu Ten at that. Mako didn’t sound as if they’d be fine but they left it alone and followed Mako inside.

“Hi,” Mako said, to the girl running the counter, “ah if I pay for an hour can it be used by three people?”

The girl gave a pitiful smile. “No, sorry, but,” she said, leaning forward as if conspiring, “if you’re just looking to get clean, there’s another bathhouse, twelve buildings down the road towards the north, that lets you in per person. Three people can get in there for the price of two hours here.”

Mako smiled at the girl. “Thank you,” he said. 

She shrugged. “It’s a nicer bathhouse anyway,” she said. “I’d use it, if this one wasn’t free for me.”

Mako nodded before dragging them from the bathhouse.

Mako seemed a lot calmer at he walked them into the new bathhouse. Looking at the pricing sign, Iroh could see why. The girl had been telling the truth. The price for three people here was actually less than the price for two hours at the other.

Mako sunk into the water without thought, Iroh hesitantly following him. Lu Ten, though was standing on the edge looking down at them.

“It’s either this or nothing, Lu,” Mako said, his voice gentle despite his slightly harsh words.

Lu Ten sighed slightly before joining them in the water. Mako tried to make him feel better by washing his hair for him.

Iroh didn’t care too much how many other people had bathed in this water. He finally got the desert sand, slurry debris, and grain dust off his body after nearly weeks of collecting the stuff. Iroh felt human again as he saw his actual skin, not shrouded by muck, for the first time in days.

He looked over once he was clean to see Lu Ten trying to unknot his hair. Mako was unsuccessfully trying to help him.

“Here,” Iroh said, taking possession of Lu Ten’s hair, “you go get yourself cleaned up. I’ve got Lu.”

“Ow,” Lu Ten said, as Iroh pulled at a particularly bad knot.

“Hold on,” Iroh said, pulling himself from the water to get a comb from their bag, as well as a new ribbon for Lu Ten’s hair and a pair of scissors. He wouldn’t cut Lu Ten’s hair much, just the split ends.

He sat at the edge and let Lu Ten’s hair fall to the floor next to him, rather than in the water. He’d clean it up after.

Lu Ten was quiet while Iroh worked.

It took Iroh what felt like forever but finally the last knot in Lu Ten’s hair slipped free and Iroh was able to run the comb through his hair with no issue.

“Never let your hair get that bad again,” Iroh said. “That was a nightmare.”

“Got it,” Lu Ten said sheepishly.

Iroh went to braid it into Lu Ten’s typical hair style before pausing. Suki had recognized Lu Ten by his and Iroh’s hair alone, but more importantly, Lu Ten’s hairstyle would stand out drastically here in the lower ring.

Iroh tapped his fingers on the comb in his lap before moving to pull Lu Ten’s hair into a half top knot, the kind the Earth Kingdom preferred, rather than the typical Fire Nation one.

Lu Ten titled his head slightly when Iroh didn’t gather all his hair, and Iroh pushed his head back up right.

“Something more Earth Kingdom,” Iroh explained, “so you won’t stand out.”

Lu Ten nodded at that. Iroh again grabbed his head to hold it still.

“Are you two done?” Mako asked, joining them at the edge of the bath.

“Oh, Lu Ten hasn’t even started bathing off,” Iroh said. “We’re still trying to tame his hair.”

Mako sighed, before laying back into a Deadman’s float. “Okay,” Mako said.

As they were leaving the bathhouse, Lu Ten tapped Iroh’s neck.

“What?” Iroh asked, batting Lu Ten’s hand away.

“Necklace,” Lu Ten said. “It’s distinctive.”

“Oh,” Iroh said, reaching up to rub his thumb over the ribbons. He hesitantly pulled it off, before tucking it into his tunic near his heart.

There was a heavy pause, before Mako coughed gently to gain attention.

“Right,” Mako said, “now the hard part, finding jobs.”

“What about food?” Lu Ten asked.

Mako hesitated, before reluctantly nodding.

“Probably best we do eat first, as much as I hate spending our limited resources right now,” Mako said.

“We don’t have to,” Lu Ten said, backtracking.

“No, it’s best we do,” Mako said. “The types of jobs we can get down here will likely be labor jobs. It’s best we eat first.”

“Okay,” Lu Ten said, hesitantly, “if you’re sure.”

“I’m sure,” Mako said, reaching for Lu Ten’s hand.

“So, what types of jobs are we looking for?” Iroh asked, moving to block the view of their linked hands from the back.

“Anything you can actually do,” Mako said. “Don’t ever lie to people about your skill set. Lying even once can break your respectability and then you won’t be able to get any work, as people won’t trust you anymore.”

“So, my skill set is customer service, bossing around military types, and rebellion,” Iroh joked. “I’m not thinking many people around here are looking for those last two.”

Mako huffed a laugh. “Yeah, that’s an interesting skill set you have there but only one of those things is marketable,” Mako said.

Iroh sighed, half-heartedly. “I hated customer service,” Iroh said, as they walked towards a food stall selling pre-made meals.

Iroh got a bowl of ramen, knowing the noodles would be filling enough that skipping lunch, particularly with how late it already was, wouldn’t be a chore if needed.

“We just need money,” Mako said, once they walked off from the food stall. He and Lu Ten had let go of each other’s hands as they both tried to eat and walk at the same time. “When we get enough for a place to stay, we can move towards more enjoyable steady jobs.”

“So, how do we get jobs?” Lu Ten asked. “Is it like when we were trying to find information on Fire Nation movements?”

“No,” Mako said. “Unless you are offering a specific service, like cleaning someone’s house or maintenance, you shouldn’t just walk up to people and ask if they have work you can do. They will get annoyed and usually the answer is no.”

Mako gestured them over to a bulletin board. “These will be all over the place, and you’ll find them outside certain stores as well,” Mako said. “They are job listings and will help you determine, one if you have the skill sets needed and two if a job is available.”

Iroh nodded, vaguely understanding what Mako was referring to. “So, like the job listings in the newspapers in our time,” Iroh said.

“Sort of,” Mako explained. “Things like this are still around in our time as newspapers cost money.”

“Oh,” Iroh said. “I didn’t think about it. It costs barely anything to me.”

“To a Crown Prince? Of course, it cost nothing, but if we were in Republic City right now as we are, we could eat dinner tonight or buy a newspaper,” Mako said.

“Oh,” Iroh repeated, looking more closely at the bulletin board. He reached for a shopkeeper advertisement.

Lu Ten was uncomfortably staring at the wall. He’s face was blank but he still looked overwhelmed by everything.

“What if you don’t have any of the needed skills,” Lu Ten finally said.

“What?” Mako asked, turning to him.

“What if you have no professional cleaning skills, or you can’t really cook or you’ve never worked customer service before,” Lu Ten said, reading off the first three advertisements he saw.

Mako sighed deeply. “Yeah, I hate those types of jobs. It’s laziness on the poster’s part. They don’t want to teach you, so they want people who already know what they are doing. It’s fine,” Mako said, pulling down another flyer and handing it to Lu Ten, “as some places require no experience. See, no experience required, just a basic ability to follow instructions. It’s a seamstress, so likely you’d just be paid as an assistant who’d get trained as you went.”

“Okay,” Lu Ten said.

Iroh patted his back. “You’ll be fine, Lu,” he said. “It’s not as scary as you’d think.”

Mako stretched up to kiss Lu Ten’s beard. “You’ve got this,” he said. “You’re more skilled than you probably know.”

“I’ll vouch for that,” someone said from behind them. “What’s dragged you three all the way in here?”

Iroh turned around and it took a moment to place the old man. It had been a long time since they last saw him, practically a life time ago at the start of this crazy journey. He was Lu Ten’s wakeup call in human form and was rather excited to see the three men who nearly got him killed.

“Ki Ha!” Lu Ten exclaimed.

Ki Ha smiled as he took the three of them in. “It’s good to see you boys again,” he said. “You’ve grown and I’ve heard some rather interesting stories through certain channels. I knew recruiting you was a good idea Rozin.”

“Sure,” Iroh said, smiling, “whatever you say old man.”

“Still no respect for your elders I see,” Ki Ha said. “How have you boys been?”

Mako let out a deep breath and laughed. “Long story, but ultimately well,” he said. “Yourself?”

“I’ve been very good,” Ki Ha said. “The White Lotus has been trying to find someone willing to take on the lower ring of Ba Sing Se for years and I decided to do so myself. I ended up traveling with Jun, Lily and Jasmine.”

“Ah, who?” Lu Ten asked.

“The three we travel the Great Divide with,” Ki Ha answered.

“Oh, yeah,” Iroh said. “I healed Jun. I assume Lily and Jasmine were the mother-daughter duo?”

“They were indeed,” Ki Ha said.

“What happened to them?” Mako asked. “The daughter was pregnant right?”

“Funny you should ask,” Ki Ha said, “we still all live together and Jasmine has three kids now.”

“Really?” Iroh asked, his eyes going wide.

“Yes,” Ki Ha said, “if you boys aren’t too busy, I could bring you by.”

Mako looked back at the bulletin board.

“Ah, actually we kind of need to find jobs,” Mako said. “We don’t really have anything to our name right now.”

Ki Ha frowned. “You at least have a place to stay right?” he asked.

“No,” Mako said, awkwardly dragging out the word.

Ki Ha huffed to himself and nodded.

“They can be mad at me later but at least for tonight you boys can stay with us,” he said. “Come on, worry about jobs tomorrow.”

Mako hesitated slightly before nodding and the three of them followed him home.

“Lily,” Ki Ha called into the house, “are you home. I have guests with me.”

“Yes, a moment,” came a reply.

Iroh recognized her the second she rounded the corner.

She looked less worried and stressed then last time he saw her. She had a kid on her hip.

“Lily, you remember Rozin, Mako and Lu, right?” Ki Ha said. “The boys who helped me through the Great Divide?”

“The ones you claim became the Sons of Agni?” she asked.

“Yes,” Ki Ha said, “for some reason they’ve come out this way.”

Lily frowned. “That can’t be good,” she said.

Ki Ha paused himself at that and turned toward the three of them.

“Why are you boys in the city again?” he asked.

“Following the Avatar and the banished Prince of the Fire Nation to keep an eye on their movements,” Iroh answered honestly. “Also, the Fire Nation Princess recently made a play for the wall.”

“You came here because the war is coming here,” Lily said.

Iroh looked the woman in the eye, knowing he couldn’t lie to her but also knowing it would scare her. “Yes,” he said.

She looked down at, who Iroh assumed was, her grandson. “I see,” she said.

“They need a place to stay till they get their feet under them,” Ki Ha said.

Lily’s face hardened. “They can stay for as long as they want,” she said. “They’ve done plenty for our small family, from saving you, to healing Jun. There’s room for them and if there isn’t, we will make it.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Lu Ten said.

“I want to,” Lily said. “Welcome to the family.”

With that she walked away, back towards the kitchen.

“Um,” Mako said.

“She’s stronger willed then I originally gave her credit for,” Ki Ha said. “When we reached Ba Sing Se, I was going to try and make it on my own, but Lily refused. Jasmine and Jun had grown close over our journey and while their traumas made things very difficult, they eventually fell in love against all odds. Jun had sort of adopted me as his father in the short time we were together and Lily refused to allow us to separate. She had already lost one family and she wasn’t losing another. So, I stayed.”

“So, you and Lily aren’t a thing?” Mako asked.

“She’s far too young to hold my interests,” Ki Ha said.

“She’s not a Pai Sho board,” Iroh joked, getting smacked on the shoulder for his troubles.

“Right, you two can stay but Rozin has to sleep outside,” Ki Ha said.

“No, I’ll behave,” Iroh said.

“Don’t trust that,” Lu Ten joked. “He doesn’t know how.”

Ki Ha laughed. “I forgot how much fun you three were,” Ki Ha said.

“Ki,” a small voice said. It was the kid Lily had been holding. “Who are they?”

“They are old friends of ours,” Ki Ha said, lifting the child. “This is Rozin, Mako and Lu, and this little guy is Luhan. He’s named after his father. His half-sisters are twins and their names are Poppy and Tulip. They are still babies and have finally decided to take a nap with their mom. Jun is at work.”

“Flower names are a family thing then?” Iroh asked.

“For the girls, yes,” Ki Ha said.

“So, what do you do for work?” Mako asked.

“I’m paid by the White Lotus to keep a front shop open down here,” Ki Ha said. He nodded to Iroh. “You could work there being a member.”

“I’d rather work in a tea shop,” Iroh said. He didn’t want to work too closely with the White Lotus as he still didn’t fully agree with their ideals.

Ki Ha made a face at him before dropping Luhan back to the ground. The five-year-old ran off.

“The house is four bedrooms,” Ki Ha said, “but there’s an attic space we throw things in. You three can move things around up there if you want. Lu will need to watch his head and eventually we will need that space, when the twins get big enough.”

“We should be gone by then,” Iroh said.

Ki Ha nodded. “Dinner will be in about four hours,” he said. “Jun will be home by then.”

He left them in the living room after gesturing to the ladder at the back of the room.

Mako went first, pulling himself though the hole in the ceiling.

It was surprisingly spacious but Lu Ten needed to duck if he bothered leaving the center of the room as the ceiling tapered down in the back.

There were boxes piled all over the room, leaving the place disorderly. Iroh realized most of the stuff belonged to Ki Ha and was actually White Lotus stuff. He placed that where it was more easily accessible knowing it would be needed more frequently and that Ki Ha would need to be able to get to it by himself.

They started pushing more things around. Piling things more orderly on one side of the room. It left them enough space to set up a sleeping area but not much else. It was fine, as a place to sleep was all they really needed.

They only really had blankets and pillows for now. They would need to get a mattress eventually but they would probably move into their own house or apartment before worrying about that. This was nice for now, but three men in their twenties needed a bit more space than an attic could really offer.

By the time they had finished it was dinner time. Iroh felt his stomach growl as the smells drifted upstairs. The front door opened and small feet were heard running across the house.

Lu Ten made his way down the ladder first while Iroh followed last.

Jun looked at them in slight confusion before his gaze locked on Iroh.

“Rozin?” he asked.

“Yeah, long time no see,” Iroh said.

“No kidding,” Jun said, smiling slightly.

He looked good. The scar on his face not detracting from his kind facial expressions at all.

“You three are staying in our attic then?” he asked.

“Ki Ha and Lily told us we could,” Mako said. “We understand if that might change with yours and Jasmine’s input.”

“Hey, Lily is the boss around here,” Jun said, holding his hands up. “If mom says yes, you don’t question it.”

Iroh smiled. This man was nowhere near the skittish man Iroh had first healed and Iroh was very glad for that.

Jun led them into the kitchen and dining area, his hand on Luhan’s head.

“That’s a lot of food,” Jun said looking at the table.

“And that is a man who can eat, I’m sure of it,” Lily said, pointing at Lu Ten.

“Ah,” Lu Ten said smiling, “guilty.”

They sat down at the table and fell into conversation with the family as if they had spent the last five years together rather than separately.

Iroh took great amusement in teasing Mako over Poppy and Tulip as the two baby girls had Lu Ten’s growing baby fever kicking into overdrive.

“Give up Mako,” Iroh whispered, “you and Lu are going to have babies before the year is up.”

“Shut up,” Mako muttered back. “We haven’t even been together a year yet.”

“It’s cute, how badly he wants to make a life with you,” Iroh said.

“Yeah,” Mako agreed smiling slightly. “It is.”

“Wait,” Ki Ha said, looking between Mako and Lu Ten, “you two are together?”

“Ah,” Mako said looking around the room.

Iroh relaxed slightly as he realized all the faces around them were simply curious and not hostile.

“Yeah,” Mako said, slowly. “We got together recently.”

Ki Ha nodded slightly. “Would not have predicted that one,” he said. “You two kind of hated each other back then.”

“I didn’t hate Mako back then,” Lu Ten said blushing.

“I might have hated Lu back then,” Mako joked, causing Lu Ten to fake pout.

“And what about you Rozin?” Jun asked.

“Oh, Rozin’s got a lot of friends here and there,” Lu Ten said.

“I see,” Jasmine said good humored.

“His favorite is a bounty hunter who tried to sell us to the Fire Nation,” Mako said.

“She’s not that bad,” Iroh said. “Why do you guys always act like I’m seeing a murderer whenever I go off with her?”

“I mean she probably is a murderer,” Lu Ten said. “Realistically speaking she’s probably killed someone.”

“Because our body count is so low,” Iroh said.

“Can we not talk about things like that at dinner?” Lily asked.

“Yes, ma’am,” Iroh, Lu Ten and Mako said at the same time.

That seemed to set off good natured laughter around the table.

They moved to the living room after that where they learned that Jun worked at a construction site that was building new homes around the lower ring. He said they are always looking for skilled laborers. Mako offered up his own skills.

“I’m self-taught on a lot of it,” Mako admitted, “but I’ve worked construction to make a little bit here and there over the years and I’ve helped rebuild a lot, after major accidents.”

Mako didn’t mention all his skills came from a different time and would be a bit more advanced then needed. Jun nodded and told Mako he could come by with him tomorrow to see about work.

“I’m also good with plumbing,” Mako said, “at least the basics.”

“Eh, plumbing isn’t worried too much over down here,” Jun said, “but it might be useful.”

The next morning Mako left with Jun and Iroh took Lu Ten back to the bulletin board.

Iroh pointed out a few jobs here and there that Lu Ten might be able to do and walked him to the various locations, knowing something about all of this was making the other man nervous.

The seamstress Mako mentioned the other day must have been desperate for some help around the shop as she immediately let Lu Ten take up the job. Iroh made sure Lu Ten was okay before walking off to find his own job.

The shopkeeper he originally saw had already filled their position, as had a few other restaurants he looked into. It was as he was passing Pao’s Family Tea Shop that Iroh realized the perfect job was right in front of him, if he could get over working in another tea house.

It was a new tea house, according to the sign out front. It had only been open a month and currently had no real staff. When he walked in, he smirked slightly, glad that his memory hadn’t been wrong.

His grandfather was wandering around taking orders.

“Hey,” Iroh said, catching Zuko’s attention, “I saw the help wanted sign, is your boss looking for more workers still?”

“Don’t know,” Zuko said, trying to walk off. Iroh grabbed his arm, slightly.

“Know who would know?” Iroh said.

Zuko glared at him and Iroh dropped his arm.

“He’s in the back,” Zuko muttered, walking off.

Iroh rolled his eyes and made his way to the back office. He knocked slightly.

The owner opened the door and Iroh waved. “Hi, are you still looking for workers?” Iroh asked.

“Yes, I currently only have the two, but because that tea maker is so good, I’ve quickly discovered I need more,” the owner said. “Do you have any experience?”

“Yeah,” Iroh said, “my family used to own a tea house.”

“Then, here,” the man said, shoving an apron at him, “you start now!”

“Um, and what am I making?” Iroh said.

The man had already closed the door.

“Alright then,” Iroh said, tying the apron around his waist. “I’ll talk to you about it later.”

“What are you doing?” Zuko asked, when Iroh slid into the kitchen.

“Oh, I work here now,” Iroh said smiling.

Uncle Iroh laughed from his corner of the kitchen as he turned around.

“Ah, Rozin,” he said, “it is nice to see you again.”

He winked at Iroh, who rolled his eyes slightly.

“You two know each other?” Zuko asked.

“We met a few years ago over a game of Pai Sho,” Uncle Iroh said.

Iroh smirked slightly, knowing Uncle Iroh wasn’t going to tell on him.

“Great,” Zuko muttered making his way out of the kitchen.

“What brings the Sons of Agni here?” Uncle Iroh said.

“A lot of things sadly,” Iroh replied. “What table is this going to?”

“Five,” Uncle Iroh replied and Iroh nodded.

He took the tray and carried it out of the kitchen. He stopped long enough to look at the table chart before carrying the tray over there.

He smiled slightly at the group of elderly women and suffered through their fawning and set up attempts. He was sure their granddaughters would make very good wives but Iroh did not want one.

It was a long day, and when Iroh returned from work, a single silver piece in his pocket, he collapsed on the bed. He knew he was tired when he only realized Mako was already there, after he had landed on him.

“Ow,” Mako said.

“Sorry,” Iroh said rolling off of him.

“I take it you found a job,” Mako said.

“Yeah, it pays two sliver pieces a day,” Iroh said, “but I stared late so I only have the one.”

“That’s actually impressive pay for this area,” Mako said. “Most places aren’t even paying one silver a day.”

“How much are you getting?” Iroh asked.

“Two copper an hour,” Mako said. “So that’s just a little over a silver piece if I work a full day. If it rains or something else stalls us, less than that.”

Iroh sighed deeply.

“Where’s Lu?” Mako asked.

“Don’t know,” Iroh said. “He got a job with that seamstress.”

Mako hummed. “He should be home soon then,” Mako said.

Iroh nodded tiredly.

After two hours of waiting they started to get nervous and went searching for him.

It was starting to get dark when they reached the seamstress’ place. The lights were off in the shop and the store was closed.

Mako and Iroh traded a look before searching the surrounding area.

They eventually found Lu Ten standing across from the bulletin board.

“Lu,” Mako said, “you scared us. Why are you looking at job listings, I thought you had a job?”

Lu Ten startled and looked at them shamefaced.

“I kind of got fired within the hour,” Lu Ten said.

“What?” Iroh asked. “Have you been looking for a job all day?”

“No!” Lu Ten said. “I went to the next place on the list you made and the guy let me help him with deliveries that he couldn’t carry anymore.”

“So, you work for him now?” Mako asked.

“No,” Lu Ten repeated. “I dropped one of his deliveries and it shattered and he told me to get lost.”

Iroh closed his eyes and grimaced slightly. “So, then you came back here?” Iroh asked.

“No,” Lu Ten said again, this time sounding frustrated. “Then I actually got lost before finding the next person on the list but they didn’t have the position open anymore, so I went to the next person and they let me work with them. All I had to do was clean up their art supplies for them, simple right? Apparently not because I screwed up because they didn’t show me the proper way to do it, so I got fired there too and then I came here because the list of jobs you gave me was empty and apparently, I can’t do anything.”

Lu Ten’s voice broke on the last word.

“Lu, baby, that’s not true,” Mako said, rubbing his arms. “This is the first time you’ve done things like this and you just had a bad day. Come on, we can look for a job tomorrow.”

“No, we can’t,” Lu Ten said. “That was all the low-experience jobs listed.”

“Listed,” Mako said, “that doesn’t mean there aren’t more out there.”

Iroh nodded slightly before another flyer caught his attention.

“Hey, wait,” Iroh said, pulling it down. “Maybe we are looking at this the wrong way.”

“What do you mean?” Lu Ten said, his voice sounding extremely tired.

“Bouncer needed,” Iroh read off, “experience required: military, guard, or performance fighting background. Lu could do this. He just needs to look intimidating and be able to back up that image. Lu’s huge, it would take a lot of alcohol to make taking on Lu look like a good idea, but more importantly Lu could actually stop people if needed.”

“We’ve been calling you unskilled,” Mako said, shaking his head, “but that’s not true. A lot of places look for ex-military types. You could do that, Lu.”

“And when I fuck that up too?” Lu Ten asked.

“You won’t,” Mako said. He kissed Lu Ten’s cheek. “You’re going to do great. Forget all the bad things that happened today. I promise you things will work out. We will go by there tomorrow and see what happens okay?”

“Okay,” Lu Ten said.

“It’s a night time job,” Iroh warned. “It runs from sundown to the early hours of the morning.”

“I just need to make money,” Lu Ten said. “I don’t want to be useless. I feel like when it comes to things like this, I never carry any weight. It didn’t matter so much on the road as I made use elsewhere, but domesticity, hard labor? I know nothing.”

“Lu, even if you never got a job you wouldn’t be useless,” Mako said.

“Yeah, our own little sugar baby,” Iroh joked. “That’s a confidence booster when you have a total of two silver pieces to your name.”

Mako snorted. 

“Ro, you’re the worst,” Lu Ten said, snatching the flyer and walking away.

Iroh laughed as he followed behind Lu Ten and Mako.

Iroh thought that would be the end of it, but later that night, Iroh realized this was an issue that ran deeper then a lack of job. He didn’t mean to listen in. Iroh knew that while Lu Ten and Mako were his life partners somethings stayed between Lu Ten and Mako. That was fine, Iroh had his own secrets that stayed between himself and his other partners.

“Lu, what’s wrong, you barely ate,” Mako asked. “Is this about this job thing? I promise it’s not that bad, do you know how many times a job rejected me when I was younger?”

Lu Ten was sat up on his part of their blanket mattress, his arms wrapped around his legs. He shook his head slightly but didn’t say anything.

Usually Iroh would make himself scarce at time like this, but there wasn’t really anywhere to go unless he wished to leave the house.

Iroh crawled through the hole of the attic and laid out on the mattress at Lu Ten’s back, trying to be as unobtrusive as possible.

“I feel like since I’ve come to this city all I can do is screw up,” Lu Ten said. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

“This is about me getting mad at you and Ro, the other day, isn’t it?” Mako asked.

“It’s about a lot of things,” Lu Ten said. “I froze when we fought the drill. I completely locked up. My mind went blank. Then Ro and I, Mako there’s no excuse for what we said the other day. I don’t know how to fix it, because I can tell you’re still mad about it even if you’re acting like everything is okay. I wanted so badly to reassure you when you were worried about how little money we had, but what do you even say? Then I couldn’t get a job and that made it worse because not only could I not comfort you but I had no way to help you fix the situation.”

Iroh buried his face in his pillow. Lu Ten seemed to pick up on how much the conversation was discomforting him, as soon Lu Ten’s nails were scraping across Iroh’s scalp.

“That right there, Lu,” Mako said. Lu Ten’s hand froze in Iroh’s hair. “That right there is what matters.”

There was a long pause before Lu Ten resumed his scratching.

“You told me that a while ago Lu,” Mako said. “When I had no comfort to give you with your family and you said being there made the difference. Okay, so you locked up in a fight. It happens, we’ve all done it before. Agni, Lu, Ro nearly just drowned! I almost got squished by the drill. These things happen. You snapped out of it and came up with a rather brilliant plan.”

Lu Ten said nothing but Iroh could feel his hand clinching down on his hair. It luckily wasn’t painful, as Iroh would have hated to break the moment to tell Lu Ten to let go.

“I am still mad,” Mako admitted. “What the two of you said hurt, but we’ve all done that before too. You apologized and I can already see the gears turning in your head, in Ro’s head, as the past two days have gone by. You’re learning. I get it, you don’t understand this lifestyle, and that makes it easy to distance yourself from it, to mock it, but you and Ro haven’t even hesitated to throw yourselves wholeheartedly into making things work. I’m still mad, but I still love you both and more then that I’m proud of you for trying because for a moment, I thought neither of you would.”

Lu Ten’s gripped Iroh’s hair tighter, and Iroh slid his hand back to give Lu Ten another target over his abused hair.

“Things will work out, Lu,” Mako said, pulling Lu Ten against him, “and if they don’t, we’ve got each other and that’s all I’ll ever need in life.”

Iroh squeezed Lu Ten’s hand tightly as the other man started shaking. Iroh didn’t bother to look, already knowing Lu Ten was crying.

He’d get it all out tonight and hopefully everything from there would be smooth sailing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Temporary Hiatus until November first. I've fallen behind in pre-written chapters due to a hell...I was going to say week but let be be honest, year at work.


	16. The Tale of Lu Ten - Lu Ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lu Ten spends his day off wandering the streets of Ba Sing Se trailing his father. A mugging reunites the two and Lu Ten is once more left wondering if his father knows more than he's saying. Arriving home Lu Ten returns to a surprise birthday party that ends in a fun and experimentative night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: THERE IS SEX! It is graphic, if you don't want to read it, skip the entire second half of this chapter. When Lu Ten gets home and Iroh goes to give him a bath, wait for next week's chapter for more content, you aren't missing anything important. 
> 
> Also, I know Lu Ten doesn't have a safe word, but 1) he can easily free himself and 2) they don't play around with the words No, Stop, and Wait so a safe word isn't really needed as Mako and Iroh would stop the second Lu Ten says to.
> 
> This is the last sex scene of this story, though sex is mentioned at least one more time off screen.
> 
> I think that's everything.

Lu Ten had been surprised at how easily they settled into the city after those first rough days.

His job as a bouncer was actually going quite smoothly even if there were some nights that made Lu Ten want to burn the place down. His most recent wild tale was the bite mark currently healing on his arm. It had been hard enough to break skin and with it being a bite mark, Iroh was healing it more slowly than usual to allow it to breath better. He was worried about infection and had even jokingly told Lu Ten to get checked for rabies. 

He had also been a bit worried about sexually transmitted diseases, something Lu Ten wasn’t too familiar with. Lu Ten and Mako had been using condoms here and there during their relationship but now they used them every time, just in case.

Their relationships had been a bit rocky those first few days in Ba Sing Se, but after their discussion, Lu Ten felt like the two of them had finally settled back into place, something he was worrying would never happen. For as much as he loved Mako, it was certainly difficult sometimes to do so, but also so very worth it.

He wasn’t completely sure, having not asked Mako himself, but he no longer felt like Mako was mad at him about what happened before they reached the lower ring. Mako seemed to watch him with this quiet pride now, that made Lu Ten feel more powerful than any title he’d previously held.

“Hey, Lu,” his boss called, “you can go home now, bars closing up!”

“Thanks,” Lu Ten called back, leaving his post at the front of the bar. He was never more grateful then for the nights when the drunks kept themselves in line. He hadn’t even needed to escort any of them out tonight.

Lu Ten slowly made his way towards home.

They no longer lived with Ki Ha and his group. They needed more space between the three of them and with how quickly the twin girls were growing, the family would soon need the space the three men were taking up.

They now lived in a small home they were renting. It had two bedrooms, a small living area with a kitchen and a wash room. It didn’t have running water, most homes down here didn’t, but with Iroh around that rarely mattered.

It was still dark when he got home, there was light spilling from below Iroh’s bedroom door, which told Lu Ten the other man was either spending the night alone or with someone new. Lu Ten figured he was probably spending it alone though, as he’d yet to introduce them to anyone new.

Normally Iroh spent the night in Lu Ten and Mako’s room with them, but he occasionally retreated to his own space. They let him, knowing that sometimes Iroh needed his alone time.

Lu Ten pushed open the door to his own room and smiled down at Mako curled up in bed asleep. If Iroh was still awake he would be extremely tired come morning, but Mako would be refreshed with how deeply he was sleeping.

The other man didn’t even notice as Lu Ten slipped into bed with him, more then used to Lu Ten returning at this time. Lu Ten dragged Mako over to him and fell asleep.

He only woke briefly as Mako squirmed out of his arms to start his own day. Lu Ten leaned up for a goodbye kiss and then went back to sleep as Mako left.

The schedule difference between him, Iroh and Mako was the only real complaint Lu Ten had about his new job. Mako and Iroh operated at relatively the same times, though Iroh started his day a bit later. It was Lu Ten’s father and cousin who opened the shop, while Iroh only showed up to help serve the morning costumers. Iroh was often home late though, as he usually cleaned after dinner and closed the tea shop. This led to days where Lu Ten and Iroh wouldn’t see each other at all.

The longest they had gone without seeing each other was a full work week. Iroh and Lu Ten both had the same off rotation, which allowed them both to hang out for two days at the least. Mako, unfortunately didn’t have the same off rotational days and often spent those days with Lu Ten and nights with Iroh.

It wasn’t an ideal situation, but it was working in their favor currently. They had an honest living and home. Still, Lu Ten tried to not let the simple life pull him in, as tempting as it was, always aware of why they were truly in the city.

Lu Ten startled slightly as the bed dipped and looked over to see Iroh had joined him in bed.

“Please tell me you slept last night?” Lu Ten asked.

“What do you mean?” Iroh asked. “Of course, I did.”

“The light in your room was on when I got home,” Lu Ten said.

“Oh,” Iroh said, “I had forgotten something and woke in the middle of the night to correct it. I went back to bed after.”

Lu Ten hummed in acknowledgement and allowed Iroh to rest on top of him.

An hour later the other man rolled out of bed and left.

“Breakfast is in the fireplace for when you wake up,” Iroh called, before leaving.

Lu Ten nodded, though Iroh couldn’t see him and fell back asleep.

He woke to the afternoon this time, Iroh and Mako long from being home.

Sleeping during the day had taken a lot of getting use to as his body naturally wished to be moving after sun rise and he could never sleep too far past midday, even if he wanted to.

He made his way towards the living room and helped himself to the breakfast Iroh had left behind. It was slightly cold but nothing not easily heated.

He was debating what he wanted to do for the day, when the sound of crying followed by music drifted through the open window.

“Leaves from the vine, falling so slow. Like fragile, tiny shells, drifting in the foam. Little soldier boy, come marching home. Brave soldier boy, comes marching home.”

Lu Ten turned and looked out the window. His heart jolted at seeing his father standing in the streets. He had a string instrument in his hands and a smile on his face as he looked down at a young boy. The boy had tear streaks on his face but seemed happy enough to yank on Lu Ten’s father’s beard.

Lu Ten stifled a laugh. He had yet to come across his father or cousin in the city, despite knowing that Iroh worked with them.

Lu Ten pulled on a tunic, as quickly as he could. It wasn’t proper, and he might get in trouble, but Lu Ten knew what he wished to do today and that was see what his father was up to, since he apparently wasn’t going to work.

Lu Ten’s father groaned and rubbed his beard as the child’s mother dragged him off and Lu Ten slipped into the shadows to follow. He wasn’t as good at this as Iroh and Mako proved, but he could usually remain hidden.

Lu Ten frowned slightly after following his father for a while. He seemed to be making his rounds of the city, headed towards the inner wall, that divided the agricultural area and the Lower Ring.

Lu Ten had to slip into an alleyway to avoid detection as his father came across a group of boys playing earthbending ball. They took up the whole street and made it hard to maneuver. Lu Ten was slightly enthralled by the game, and could tell his father was too as he watched from the corner of his eye.

One boy launched the ball up and sideways before kicking it forwards. It followed a small pathway before another boy intercepted it. The ball launched up and towards Lu Ten’s father. Lu Ten jumped from the alleyway but his father had already ducked.

The ball crashed through a window instead.

“Hey,” someone shouted from inside.

“It is usually best to admit mistakes when they occur, and seek to restore honor,” Lu Ten’s father told the children surrounding him.

There was a banging noise from inside that had Lu Ten moving forward again and fully giving up his cover.

A large face came into view. The man was intimidating enough to have even Lu Ten taking a slight step back.

“When I'm through with you kids, the window won't be the only thing that's broken,” the man said.

“But not this time,” Lu Ten’s father said, “run!”

Lu Ten knew his father wasn’t talking to him but as his father and the kids took off, Lu Ten did too, matching his father step by step.

He watched his father turn the corner into an alleyway and nearly slammed into the man as he went to round the corner himself. His father had apparently stopped and was checking behind him when Lu Ten nearly slammed into him.

The two of them looked at each other in surprise before another man interrupted them.

“You,” the man said, “give me all your money.”

Lu Ten tilted his head. He wasn’t sure who this man though he was robbing with a knife grip like that. 

“No,” Lu Ten said, reaching forward and grabbing the man’s wrist. The knife quickly slipped from his hand and Lu Ten was able to pin him to the ground.

Lu Ten went to leave, but stopped as he realized his father was helping the other back to his feet.

“You will have to excuse my young companion,” he said. “He seems well trained in many fighting styles. You on the other hand, what were you planning on doing with a stance like that?”

“What?” the other man said, “I was trying to mug you. I guess I can’t do anything right.”

Lu Ten’s father shook his head. “Your poor stance allowed my young friend here to get under what little guard you had. With a poor stance, you are unbalanced, and you can be easily knocked over,” he said.

He grabbed the knife from Lu Ten and handed it back to the other man. “With a solid stance, you are a much more serious threat,” he said, demonstrating a proper stance for balance. The other still didn’t get it and Lu Ten leaned against the alleyway wall with a smile as his father taught a mugger how to better mug someone.

“Much better,” Lu Ten’s father said, as he finished adjusting the other man’s stance, “but to tell you the truth, you do not look like the criminal type.”

The other man deflated slightly. “I know. I’m,” he said, sighing, “I’m just confused.”

Lu Ten’s father hummed slightly before pulling out a tea pot from his basket. He set up a tea station and started brewing, gesturing for the other two men in the alleyway to join him.

Lu Ten kneeled, slightly confused by his father’s behavior. On one hand it was to be expected, but on the other, he seemed even softer than usual today.

“Can I get your name?” his father asked.

“Oh, Tycho,” the man said.

“Tycho then, would you like to talk about it?” Lu Ten’s father asked.

Tycho seemed to be debating with himself before launching into a story Lu Ten found all too relatable.

Tycho was new to the city and much like Lu Ten was struggling to find a job. He had been fired from no less than ten of them in the past week.

“I know that feeling,” Lu Ten said, unknowingly interrupting his father. “I struggled the same my first days here. My friends helped me realize I was looking at job hunting the wrong way. I didn’t need to find something that involved no skills, you’ll never really find a job like that. What I needed was to find a job with my skills. I work as a bouncer for a bar now, they wanted ex-military and I fit the bill. Tycho, what are you good at?”

“Not mugging people,” he sighed.

“Well,” Lu Ten said, “I’m not good at a gathering yarn, nor am I good at making deliveries or cleaning paint supplies. Just because you haven’t found a skill you can work with, doesn’t mean you don’t have any.”

“What do you want to do?” Lu Ten’s father asked.

“Well,” Tycho said, “I’d really like to be a masseur. I was training for it before I had to leave my trade training behind.”

“I’m sorry,” Lu Ten said.

“Well, I think should you pick back up your training, you’d make a fire masseur,” Lu Ten’s father said.

“The bathhouses in the area might be the places to check,” Lu Ten said. “They have masseurs there to help people work out knots from hard labor. You could possibly train and then work there.”

“Bathhouses?” Tycho said, “I never thought about it.”

“I think it is worth a try,” Lu Ten’s father said. “I think you will do well at it.”

The tea finally finished brewing and Lu Ten reached for the tea pot. His father looked at him questioningly.

“I’m the youngest,” Lu Ten said, “it’s only proper, had I not been sick last time we met I would have poured it for you then too.”

“I see,” his father said with a smile. “Very well then.”

“So, you really think I could be a good masseur?” Tycho asked, once Lu Ten had all of the cups distributed. 

“Of course,” Lu Ten’s father said.

“This is so great,” Tycho said. “No one has ever believed in me.”

“Well, now there’s two of us,” Lu Ten said, smiling at the other man. While Lu Ten originally assumed his father had lost the plot when he first helped his mugger up, Lu Ten was glad he had done so. Lu Ten had realized at some point during the conversation that this was what Mako had been explaining all along. Lu Ten owed him an even bigger apology then Lu Ten had given.

“While it is always best to believe in oneself, a little help from others can be a great blessing,” Lu Ten’s father said.

They finished off their tea and Tycho left, with the names of three bathhouses Lu Ten knew of in hand.

“I’m glad you stopped to help him,” Lu Ten said, softly. “I was going to leave him here.”

Lu Ten’s father smiled. “Desperation drives people to do things they shouldn’t more often than not,” he said. “Sometimes they just need someone to pull them back.”  
“My boyfriend was like that,” Lu Ten said, “a man much like yourself pulled him back. I’m not sure how many times I need to relearn that lesson before it sticks.”

“Unlearning prejudice is hard,” Lu Ten’s father said.

“But worth it,” Lu Ten replied. “I know, but I didn’t realize just how deeply it ran within my mind.”

“Most people don’t,” his father said. “Would you like dinner? I was going to go eat.”

Lu Ten looked down at the basket in his father’s arms. “Don’t you have a picnic to get to?” Lu Ten asked.

“Ah, no, this is not a picnic,” his father said, holding the basket close to him. “I am headed to a hill outside the walls, but there is no food for myself in this basket.”

Lu Ten nodded. “Yeah, dinner sounds nice,” Lu Ten said.

He followed his father to a small table near a food cart. Lu Ten sat with a plate of rice noodle rolls.

“Was there any particular reason you were following me today, Lu?” his father asked.

“Oh, not really,” Lu Ten replied sheepishly. “I had nothing to do as my friends were at work and I didn’t need to be at work until sundown. I figured I’d see what you were up to, as you’d normally be at work with Ro.”

“Ah yes, Rozin,” his father said, “he is quite the character to have around. Zuko hadn’t made the connection between Rozin and your little group and seems to have unknowingly made friends with the waterbender.”

“Rozin mentioned,” Lu Ten said, “he thinks it’s funny.”

“It is a bit amusing,” his father said.

Their conversation continued on in that vein as the two finished dinner.

As Lu Ten got up to leave his father said something that threw him off slightly.

“Lu, before you go, I want you to know I am quite proud of the courage you and your friends display. To so brazenly go against the Fire Nation takes serious resolve, resolve I fear I did not have for the longest time. I hope, had my son lived, he would have turned out half the men you and your friends are,” he said.

Lu Ten’s heart rate picked up. “I think he would have,” Lu Ten said, nearly running off.

Sometimes he suspected his father knew exactly who he was but it was always a vague enough reference to leave him scrambling.

Lu Ten made it home at sundown and cursed slightly. He’d be late for work but he needed to get dressed first.

“Surprise!” Iroh shouted when Lu Ten entered the room.

Lu Ten nearly knocked the other through the wall.

“Ro, what was that?” Lu Ten asked, getting his heart rate under control. “Never mind I’m running late.”

Lu Ten went to push past Iroh but was stopped by a hand around his waist.

“Nope, your shift is being covered, you’re working one of your days off instead to make up for it,” Iroh said.

“And why would I do that?” Lu Ten asked.

Iroh stared at him blankly. “Because it’s your birthday?” Iroh asked slowly.

“Oh,” Lu Ten said. “Is it?”

“Yes,” Iroh said, rolling his eyes. “Mako and I made you dinner but you didn’t show up for it. We were hoping we hadn’t missed you.”

“Oh, um sorry, I kind of already ate,” Lu Ten said.

“It’s fine,” Iroh said, “Mako and I also made desert and that you aren’t getting out of, nor are you getting out of the rest of tonight’s plans.”

“Okay, okay,” Lu Ten said laughing as Iroh dragged him towards the dining table where Mako was placing food down.

“You took your time getting here,” Mako said.

“Sorry, I ran into someone and got to talking,” Lu Ten said.

Mako leaned up to kiss his beard. “It’s okay,” Mako said, “we have a lot more than just dinner in store for you.”

“Oh?” Lu Ten asked, wrapping his arms around Mako.

Mako slipped away. “After dinner,” Mako said.

Lu Ten huffed and cuffed Iroh’s head as he walked past the laughing man.

“Don’t laugh at my misery,” Lu Ten said.

“But your misery is so amusing,” Iroh said.

“It’s my birthday,” Lu Ten said, “be nice to me.”

“Okay,” Iroh said, still laughing, “but only because it’s your birthday.”

“Since, someone already ate,” Mako said, staring at Lu Ten reproachfully, “here’s desert.”

Lu Ten smiled brightly at the pink Mochi set before him. It was a common desert found among noble ceremonies, and Lu Ten often coveted them as a child as they were only present during celebrations that were too spread out. He used to steal them from the kitchen all the time, and often took Azula with him, once he realized she liked them just as much. Lu Ten squished one and smiled as a sweet red bean paste spilled out the hole he made. He loved this kind the best.

“Thank you,” Lu Ten said as he ate one. “I love you.”

Mako laughed slightly. “If that’s all it took,” he joked.

“So, you two made all of this?” Lu Ten asked.

“Mostly Mako,” Iroh said, shaking his head. “I was still at work until an hour before you got here.”

Lu Ten hummed and stuffed another rice cake in his mouth. “I picked a man who can cook,” Lu Ten said, after he swallowed. “Lucky me.”

Mako rolled his eyes. “You don’t need to sweet talk me,” Mako said, “trust me, Ro and I have plans for you tonight.”

Lu Ten felt a shiver roll down his spine and settle in his gut. Iroh had said something similar and Lu Ten personally couldn’t wait for whatever these two had planned for him.

Iroh was taking his sweet time eating. Mako was leaned back in his seat smirking as he watched Iroh stall them. Lu Ten was practically squirming in his seat impatiently wanting to move on to the bedroom, which he was more than sure was their next destination.

“I’ll clear the table and get things set up,” Mako said, once Iroh finished eating. “You go help Lu Ten relax.”

Mako ran his hand over the nape of Lu Ten’s neck as he walked away, causing goosebumps to form across Lu Ten’s arms.

Iroh saluted Mako before standing and dragging Lu Ten into the bathroom.

Lu Ten’s brow furrowed. When Mako said relax, Lu Ten thought he was referring to prepping for sex but apparently Iroh was giving him a bath.

The tub had already been filled and Iroh gestured towards Lu Ten to warm it.

Lu Ten did before allowing Iroh to slowly undress him.

“Mako planned most of this didn’t he?” Lu Ten asked.

“If it was up to me, you’d get sex and that’s about it,” Iroh joked. “He’s spoiling you because this is the first time, we’ve been somewhere long enough to pull something like this. Neither of us are working tomorrow so you have us to yourself until you go to work.”

Lu Ten sighed as he sunk into the bathwater, feeling the tension he hadn’t realized he was holding fade away.

Iroh grabbed a cloth and started wiping the sweat and dust from Lu Ten’s body. The gentle movements were enough to nearly lull Lu Ten to sleep, until Iroh wrapped his clothed hand around Lu Ten’s cock and pulled slightly.

“Oh,” Lu Ten said, rolling his head back.

“I’m just cleaning you,” Iroh said, but Lu Ten could hear the smirk in his voice. Iroh reached his other hand into the water and rolled Lu Ten’s balls slightly. He slipped the wash cloth lower between Lu Ten’s legs and pressed down lightly.

“So, you say,” Lu Ten said, rolling his hips slightly to get more pressure.

Iroh pulled his hands back and started properly washing Lu Ten again. Lu Ten pouted but allowed the other man his retreat.

Iroh started washing his hair after that.

“Do you remember the first time I ever bathed you?” Iroh asked, rubbing soapy fingers through Lu Ten’s hair. His nails scrapped nicely against Lu Ten’s scalp. His worked-up nerves, turning the sensation into arousal.

“You mean that time when Mako questioned the size of my dick?” Lu Ten asked, laughing slightly.

Iroh huffed his own laugh. “Yes, then,” Iroh said.

“Yeah, why?” Lu Ten asked.

“I don’t know,” Iroh said, softly, “it’s just crazy how much things have changed for us.”

“Yeah,” Lu Ten said, leaning his head back as Iroh drew water through his hair to wash the soap from it.

Iroh planted a kiss on Lu Ten’s neck, then another on his chin. He pulled back slightly to make a face at the scratchiness before planting a final kiss on Lu Ten’s lips. It was soft and chaste, as all kisses like that were from Iroh, but it was still sweet and had heat pooling in Lu Ten groined.

“Up,” Iroh said, ignoring how hard Lu Ten currently was as he stood.

Iroh dried him off, before pulling the water out of Lu Ten’s hair so it was dry too.

“Scoot,” Iroh said, pushing him towards the bedroom.

Lu Ten paused slightly as he took in what Mako was doing.

“Bondage?” Lu Ten asked.

“If you don’t want to, we can do without,” Iroh said, wrapping his arm around his waist.

“For me?” Lu Ten asked, again.

“Yeah,” Mako said, staring at him with dark eyes. 

“Okay,” Lu Ten said, hating how eager that came out, as he moved towards the bed. Mako was gentle as he tied the soft cloth around Lu Ten’s wrists. It was something Lu Ten could easily burn through if needed, so he wasn’t too worried about it.

Mako ran his hand softly down Lu Ten’s chest once he was tied firmly to the bed frame. He smiled at what he saw, seeming to like whatever it was.

Iroh was sitting at the end of the bed, staring.

“Was the plan to tie me to the bed and stare,” Lu Ten asked, rising a brow as Mako and Iroh continued to watch him.

“No,” Mako said, “for now it’s for you to be tied down and stare at us.”

“Wait,” Lu Ten said, watching Iroh move forward and wrap himself firmly around Mako’s back, “how is you two having sex with each other a treat for me?”

“Patience,” Iroh said, before biting at Mako’s throat.

Lu Ten huffed but continued to watch as Iroh slid Mako’s shirt off. He slipped his hand into the front of Mako’s pants as he kissed down the skin revealed by Mako’s missing shirt.

Lu Ten’s hips pressed down into the bed but he was flipped the wrong way for it to make much difference. He tugged on the cloth around his wrist and glared slightly at it as Mako moaned loudly.

Lu Ten’s attention returned to his friends as Mako’s pants were pulled off, followed by Iroh’s shirt.

With Mako fully undressed, Iroh pushed him down until Mako was laying over Lu Ten.

Lu Ten’s eyes went wide as Mako smirked slightly at him and pulled him into a kiss.

“Are you two about to have sex on top of me, while I’m tied down,” Lu Ten asked, when they pulled apart.

“You always talk too much,” Mako said, as he trialed kisses down Lu Ten’s neck and bit slightly where it met his shoulder. 

Lu Ten took a deep breath, not willing to admit how attractive he found the idea. He tried to take advantage of Mako being on top of him to roll his hips again.  
Mako and him both moaned at that.

Mako’s hand came up to rub softly, then more firmly over one of Lu Ten’s nipples. Lu Ten hated that he was the only one with sensitive nipples, as it was a fact often taken advantage of.

Mako rubbed harshly across it as he pulled back from his attack on Lu Ten’s neck.

Lu Ten grunted as his hips jerked forward at the pleasure that followed. His hips rolled into Mako’s again as the other man petted down from Lu Ten’s ribs to his hips to pull him closer. Then Mako’s hips disappeared as Iroh pulled him onto his hands and knees.

Lu Ten was slightly disappointed that he couldn’t see Iroh opening Mako up but that disappointment didn’t last long as a finger was soon circling his own hole.

At first, he thought it was Iroh, prepping both of them, but Iroh’s free hand slammed down on the mattress next to Mako’s head and Lu Ten’s hips.

Mako was the one currently slipping an exploratory finger into him.

Lu Ten groaned slightly at that, moving to grab Mako to pull him into another kiss, only for his arms to stop short due to the ties. Lu Ten grunted slightly at that but gave into it. He spread his legs to give Mako more room to work and was rewarded by a hot mouth sliding around the head of his cock.

Mako didn’t move from that spot, softly licking along the sensitive head. He paused only once to suck on it, as he slid a second finger into Lu Ten.

Mako moaned slightly around Lu Ten, causing the vibrations to flow up Lu Ten’s spine.

Iroh smirked slightly as he watched them and that’s when Lu Ten realized Mako was following Iroh’s lead, as far as fingering Lu Ten went.

This was proven true when Iroh moved his hand several minutes later, and Mako huffed softly in response as Lu Ten’s cock slipped from his mouth. Mako quickly slipped a third finger into Lu Ten and Lu Ten threw his head back.

“You two are killing me,” Lu Ten said. “I want to touch you so badly.”

“Sounds like a personal problem,” Iroh said.

Mako laughed slightly as he leaned forward to kiss Lu Ten. Lu Ten whined slightly into the kiss as Mako swiftly pulled his fingers from Lu Ten’s hole, only to slowly shove all three, back in.

“Oh, why?” Lu Ten groaned, as they pulled back from the kiss.

“Blame Mako,” Iroh said. “I kept my hand where it was, he’s the one who moved his ass.”

“Sorry,” Mako said, “wasn’t thinking.”

Mako jolted slightly and it didn’t take Lu Ten long to figure out why as Mako’s fingers curled against his own prostate.

“That was obvious,” Iroh joked.

“Oh, you’re going to kill us both,” Mako said, even as he continued pressing down on that sweet spot inside Lu Ten.

“You know,” Lu Ten said, “you don’t have to follow his lead.”

“Why, so I’d be the one in trouble instead?” Mako asked.

“Am I in trouble?” Lu Ten asked. “I thought this was birthday sex?”

“You’re both always in trouble,” Iroh replied.

“Shut the fuck up, Iroh. You’re worse,” Mako said, his laughter turning into a squeak. Lu Ten kicked his leg out involuntarily as Mako reached up to lightly squeeze then roll his balls in his hand.

Mako’s hands disappeared from Lu Ten’s body and Lu Ten whined slightly at the loss as he looked up at the other two men.

Iroh had pulled Mako back onto his lap and slipped a condom onto Mako before giving him a rather thorough hand job. Mako was breathing heavy, even as he reached back and grabbed the back of Iroh’s hair.

Iroh grunted at the pull but let Mako go.

Mako leaned forward and licked Lu Ten from root to tip, before hiking up Lu Ten’s legs.

Lu Ten watched as Iroh rolled his own condom on, before he slid slowly into Mako. Mako kissed Lu Ten’s stomach, before moving to follow Iroh’s lead.

Lu Ten watched in fascination as Mako both fucked himself and fucked Lu Ten at the same time.

Iroh shot him a lazy grin over Mako’s shoulder and Lu Ten smirked slightly back. There was something rather exhilarating about being still as your lover did all the work.

Lu Ten saw Mako’s arms shaking slightly as he moved back and forth. He went to reach for them when his arms met resistance once more. Lu Ten gritted his teeth in frustration.

Iroh slid forwards, causing Mako to nearly collapse as Iroh pushed forward into him, even as Mako did the same to Lu Ten.

Lu Ten’s wrist bindings came lose and Lu Ten moved forward to rub up and down Mako’s shaky arms.

Mako smiled slightly up at Lu Ten before Iroh pulled him back slightly. With the three of them back in place, Mako went back to his previous pace.

Iroh slid his hand up Mako’s back to his neck. He pushed Mako forward slightly until Mako was buried deep in Lu Ten and pressed chest to chest with him.

Iroh picked up the pace. His own motions forcing Mako deeper and deeper into Lu Ten.

Lu Ten was fairly certain he and Mako were sharing breath there towards the end. Mako’s hand wrapped around Lu Ten’s cock and Lu Ten didn’t even try to fight off his orgasm.

Mako followed him.

“Ro, please,” Mako said, “please.”

“Trying,” Iroh said. Lu Ten squirmed slightly as Iroh kept pushing Mako and Lu Ten together. Lu Ten was slightly oversensitive and he imagined Mako was worse but Iroh certainly took his time, as Mako buried his head in Lu Ten’s neck.

Iroh shook his head and pulled out, giving himself a tight hand job before finally spilling into his condom.

“Sorry,” Iroh said.

“S’fine,” Mako muttered. “We are starting to get used to how long it takes you, doesn’t make it less overwhelming.”

“I thought I timed it right this time,” Iroh said, collapsing next to Mako and Lu Ten.

“You and your ridiculous stamina,” Lu Ten joked.

Iroh laughed. “Takes me longer to get going. Was that fun, birthday boy?” Iroh joked.

Lu Ten pulled Mako tighter to him. “That was fun,” Lu Ten said, “though one question.”

“Oh, yeah,” Mako mumbled into Lu Ten’s chest, “go for it.”

“Which one of you, sadists came up with the idea that what Iroh did to Mako, is what Mako did to me?” Lu Ten asked.

“Which one do you think,” Mako asked, looking up at Lu Ten incredulously.

Lu Ten stared his boyfriend down.

“Okay, you caught me,” Mako said. “I thought it would be hot, but I forgot how petty Iroh is even in bed.”

Iroh’s hand swung out and smacked the back of Mako’s bare thigh.

“Ow,” Mako said, “exactly my point.”

“You two are something else,” Lu Ten said, “but thank you for this. Best birthday by far.”

Mako leaned down and kissed Lu Ten, drawing his tongue across Lu Ten’s lips. Lu Ten deepened the kiss and wrapped his hand around the back of Mako’s head.

“Happy birthday,” Mako said, breathlessly as they pulled away.

“I love you,” Lu Ten said, brushing hair from Mako’s eyes.

Iroh stood up and Lu Ten worried they had made him uncomfortable.

“Wait,” Lu Ten said, sitting up as if to grab the other man, “you don’t have to leave.”

Iroh smirked at him slightly.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be back,” Iroh said. “I’m getting a washcloth.”

“Oh, okay,” Lu Ten said, settling down.

His eyes felt heavy as Iroh rubbed the warm washcloth over his body.

There was a nagging voice in the back of his head though, that kept him slightly awake, even as Iroh’s soothing motions lulled him to sleep. Clarity struck as he realized what exactly it was his father was doing earlier that day.

Lu Ten slept fitfully that night, even as Mako and Iroh squished him in the middle of the bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again on Iroh's sexuality: he's aroace, but he's not sex repulsed. In fact he's sex favorable. If he's either in the mood or Mako and Lu Ten can make things interesting enough he feels like joining, Iroh will have sex with them (or other people). Iroh doesn't find Lu Ten or Mako sexually or romantically attractive. He finds them comfortable to be around and safe to have sex with and he also finds them interesting enough in bed. That's it. They are his friends and that's all Iroh needs them to be.
> 
> In upcoming chapters and the next book Mako and Lu Ten are going to struggle with trying to deepen their relationship without making Iroh feel excluded. Ex: when Lu Ten thinks they made Iroh uncomfortable with their moment and all Iroh was doing was trying to get the sticky stuff off of him.
> 
> What they still, even after years of knowing and being in a QPR with Iroh, don't understand is that Iroh doesn't want to be part of the deepened relationship. He wants to be excluded from it, so long as he gets to keep the committed relationship dynamic he already has with them. He's 100% on board with them getting married and having kids, but he doesn't want to be included in those plans other than as a friend they are slightly more intimate with than usual and who they occasionally have sex with, and that's something that starts developing in the next two "Tales of Ba Sing Se" chapters but really develops in Book 3.
> 
> On a different note, Mako is not in fact over what happened before they reached the lower ring, but he's trying to push it away as he watched Iroh and Lu Ten actually work to be better. More on that will be in Mako's chapter where it's very clear he's still upset but not sure how to move forward. So he does what Mako does best, and pushes it away. It's going to blow up later in Book 3 when Lu Ten realizes his people live in poverty too.
> 
> Also, buckle up because this is the last feel good chapter of this story. Everything else is downhill from here.


	17. The Tale of Mako - Mako

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mako stops a robbery, gets a new job and buys an engagement ring.

Mako ran his hand through Lu Ten’s hair. It slipped easily from his fingers and spilled darkly over the other man’s bare back as he slept soundlessly next to him. Mako smiled slightly to himself.

Mako couldn’t help but marvel at Lu Ten sometimes. He knew that in reality, the things Lu Ten did were no different than the things other people did. However, knowing where Lu Ten came from and seeing him adapt and succeed in new environments left Mako with a bit of pride.

He still wasn’t fully over the mocking Iroh and Lu Ten had done when they first got here. In all honesty it would probably be something that stuck with him for a long time. He had long forgiven them over it, but it wasn’t easy to forget such harsh sentiments.

He couldn’t help but wonder sometimes if Lu Ten and Iroh didn’t have those types of thoughts about him on occasion. It wasn’t a nice thought, wondering if his own boyfriend would have dismissed him entirely had they met under different circumstances.

They were trying, and at this point Mako would be shocked to hear them say something demeaning of those from the Lower Ring. They had both slowly taken to the new environment, Iroh more easily than Lu Ten, and had managed to make themselves somewhat at home here. 

Apparently, at some point between when Lu Ten was growing up and when Iroh was growing up, the royal family had started trying to teach their children the value of money. Iroh said it was to supposedly build character but if you asked him it was just a punishment for acting like a spoiled brat.

Iroh had admitted this so genuinely that Mako didn’t have the heart to tell him, he had called himself a spoiled brat. Mako supposed if the shoe fit, Iroh could wear it. He and Lu Ten had laughed about it later.

Still, he hated that it took them living it themselves to figure it out though.

Mako ran his hand down Lu Ten’s back and then back up.

He had been running an idea through his head for a while. It scared him, but Mako at least wanted to look into it.

Mako dropped a kiss on Lu Ten’s shoulder before getting out of bed. It was Mako’s day off, so he had let himself sleep in, but he needed to get moving.

Iroh was just now pulling on his shoes to leave for his own job. Mako tugged on a strand of his hair as he walked by.

“Have fun at work,” Mako said.

Iroh huffed. “Sure,” he said, dragging Mako into a goodbye hug before he left. Mako dropped a kiss on the side of his head before pushing him out the door.

Mako moved towards the kitchen once Iroh left, and sighed in relief that Iroh had already made breakfast for him and Lu Ten, should the other man wake up for it. Mako didn’t really feel like cooking for himself. As it was, he could barely force the food down.

He was slightly nervous, but he needed to move quickly. Lu Ten would wake up around noon and wonder where he was, so Mako was on a time crunch.

With breakfast somewhat eaten, Mako slipped from the house. He debated long and hard on where to go. Technically, he still had his passport and could pass into the Middle Ring, but things there would be more expensive and Mako only had so much money.

Instead he made his way to the closest jeweler in the Lower Ring.

There were only three of them in the Lower Ring, and all three had at least two city guards posted outside of them at all times.

Mako slipped inside the building, a bell ringing overhead, and held his breath.

He’d never actually been inside a jeweler shop before. It was interesting having earthbending at his back because he could tell the stones apart, as well as the difference in quality. Though he still didn’t know which stone was what.

“Hello,” the store owner called, “can I help you with anything?”

“Um,” Mako said, rubbing the back of his neck. “I wanted to look at engagement bands if possible. I’m not sure I’m going to buy but I wanted to at least look, today.”

“Ah, a special lady in your life then?” the shop owner asked.

Mako nearly laughed. Lu Ten was the farthest thing from a special lady. The man towered over people and was built like a brick wall. No one was mistaking him for a woman any time soon.

Mako made a vague gesture. It was best to let the shop owner come to their own conclusions. The Earth Kingdom was odd about same-sex relationships and while Mako was lucky to have come across more open-minded people, he wasn’t counting on the luck to run forever.

Same-sex marriage was legal, at least in this part of the Earth Kingdom, even if it was frowned on. Though, while Mako was prepared to propose, he wasn’t sure he wanted to get married until after the war.

“Well, we have these bands,” the owner said. “They are some of our bests, featuring larger gemstones. For something more discreet we also have these.”

Mako looked over the bands he was directed to. The ones with the large stones were fairly gaudy and Mako could already imagine the face Lu Ten would make at something like that. The others, while less flashy, were very feminine looking. 

If shopping for Iroh, it wouldn’t be an issue. Iroh actually liked traditionally feminine things on occasion. Mako was shopping for Lu Ten though and while Lu Ten would likely say yes even if Mako presented him with a string tied into a circle, Mako wanted something Lu Ten would actually like.

Mako’s face must have displayed his reluctance on those rings.

“There are of course non-traditional bands,” the shop owner said. “Take your time and look around.”

Mako nodded and wandered away from the feminine rings. The shop owner’s face lit up with clarity and Mako was simply glad they said nothing more.

Looking down at the more masculine rings, Mako found a fair few that Lu Ten might like. It would have to be very durable and heat resistant. Mako’s mother’s ring had been titanium.

“What are these rings made of?” Mako asked.

“Which ones,” the owner asked, joining Mako by the other rings.

“These three,” Mako said, pointing to three rings that sat side by side. Mako liked all three but that was only half the challenge.

“These two are sliver,” the shop owner said, “but this last one is made of tungsten. It is more expensive due to how hard it is to make.”

Mako bit his lip. Silver would melt or heat up on Lu Ten’s hand should he firebender. It would cause a scar around his finger and Mako didn’t want that. It was a main reason the Fire Nation never bothered trading rings like the Earth Kingdom did.

He just wasn’t sure if he could afford the tungsten ring. He knew tungsten was a very hard metal to work with.

It was a simple dark metal band with a lighter metal band running through the middle and a small emerald sat in the center. It was simple, and masculine enough that Lu Ten could wear it. Eyeing it, Mako thought it looked the right size. Despite how large Lu Ten was, he had rather thin fingers.

“I’ll give you a moment to mull it over,” the shop owner said, moving to help a new customer who came in.

Mako glanced over vaguely and for a moment his heart stopped.

He thought it had been Bolin. The young man had the same face shape and even the same curl of hair that never stayed with the rest of his hair.

Mako blinked hard and the image was, somewhat, dispelled. The man just looked extraordinarily like his brother, down to the playful green eyes.

Mako glanced to the side and noticed the woman on the man’s arm. Something about her registered as extremely familiar.

“Whatever you want, Yin,” the guy said, throwing Mako for a loop. “It’s your birthday after all.”

The woman, Yin, smiled.

Mako’s heart started beating harshly in his chest.

It wasn’t possible. No, it was very possible. Iroh had already run into his own grandparents, there was no reason Mako wouldn’t be able to do the same.

Mako jolted and stared back at the tungsten ring as his grandma wandered over towards where he was standing.

She was looking at the necklaces in the next display case over.

“Are you ring shopping?” she asked, cutting a glance towards Mako.

“Ah, yes,” Mako said looking down. “I’m not sure I want to buy one though.”

“Why not?” she asked. “Surely if you love them there wouldn’t be any hesitation.”

Mako laughed. Apparently, his grandma would be his grandma no matter what age. She had just as much feisty energy as a teen as she did an elder. If anything, his grandma seemed to get worse with age.

He had thought the young couple older but he realized his grandma couldn’t be more than seventeen. Maybe Mako was being cynical, but that was a rather naive thing to say in his opinion.

“I have since learned that things are not always that simple,” Mako said. “I love him, but we’ve had a rough few weeks and we’ve not been dating long. On top of that, there is a lot of uncertainty outside of our relationship too.”

“You know what those sound like,” Yin asked.

Mako tilted his head and squinted at her. “What?” Mako asked, humoring her.

“Excuses,” she said. “It sounds like you don’t wish to marry him at all.”

“I do,” Mako insisted, “but it’s not so simple.”

“It is simple,” she replied. “You love him. You make it happen.”

“She’s right,” Mako’s grandfather said. Mako frowned slightly at realizing he never knew the man’s name. “If you really wanted to marry him, you would.”

It was so simple coming from them and while Mako knew deep down it was more complicated than that, he allowed himself to be pulled into their youthful notions of love and happily ever after.

Mako sighed and looked down at the ring.

“How much is it?” Mako asked the shop keeper. 

“Ten gold,” the shop owner said. Mako’s stomach clinched at the reply. Mako didn’t have ten gold pieces to give the man. He barely had five.

The room fell silent, which only caused Mako to feel even more sick. It was very clear that Mako couldn’t afford the tungsten ring. Mako wanted to leave but something kept him rooted to the spot.

“Is there any way you could hold the ring?” Mako asked, slightly desperately.

“I can hold it for a week, but after that I will need to put it back on the floor,” the man said.

Mako bit down on his lip harshly. He could get the money in a month. He was sure of it. He would have to work overtime nearly every day, but he could manage it.

They pooled their money though, and Mako’s income would be noticeable if it went missing. Mako was tempted to ask Iroh for help but that didn’t seem fair. Iroh didn’t want to get married, so making him help buy the wedding ring just registered as wrong to Mako. He knew the other man would help if asked, but Mako didn’t want to ask. Deep down, Mako wanted to do this on his own.

Mako asked the shop owner to put the ring on hold anyway. If he couldn’t figure something out by the week’s end, well maybe that was just a sign.

As Mako exited the shop, someone went barreling past him into the store and snatched a few cheaper display pieces before taking off from the shop.

Mako heard his grandma scream, as the shop keeper started cussing loudly.

Mako’s training kicked in and he was running after the man before he could even really think about it. The city guards stationed at the jeweler’s doors were hot on both their tails.

Mako stopped the man in an alleyway. The man turned with a knife held aloft in his hand and Mako paused slightly.

“Hey,” Mako said, holding his hands out to the sides harmlessly, “you’ve been caught. You’re cornered. The best thing for you to do is give those back to the shop owner and see if they might drop any charges. Common man, I know it’s hard, but you’re going to get hurt.”

“I need the money,” the guy replied.

“I know you do,” Mako said. “A lot of people do, but that money isn’t going to help you when you get caught. Let’s go. If they don’t press charges, I’ll buy you lunch.”

“They aren’t going to let me go,” the man said.

“I’ll see about that,” Mako said, walking the man from the alleyway. He nearly slammed into one of the guards.

“Oh, you caught him,” the man said, “good job.”

“He’s putting the jewelry back where he found it,” Mako said. “It was a desperate mistake made by a desperate man. I think with nothing actually missing this whole thing can be brushed aside, yeah?”

“Um,” the guard said, looking over his shoulder at his partner. The other man shrugged in return. “If the shop owner agrees I don’t see why not?”

Mako nodded and tried to think of what to say to the shop owner when they got there. He was sure the owner was already over Mako’s presence, having proved he couldn’t pay for the ring he wanted.

“That was an impressive catch,” the second guard said, striking up small talk. He was watching Mako intently. Mako wasn’t sure if the man was sizing him up or slightly suspicious of Mako. Either way, Mako wasn’t sure he wanted the attention.

“I worked for my town’s guard before I came here,” Mako said.

“We could use some quick reaction time like that,” the second guards said.

Mako stalled in the street as an idea took root. “Not to sound money hungry, but how much does that pay?” Mako asked.

“Five silver a day,” the guard replied.

Mako really needed that money, and guard work was most similar to his previous skill set.

“I might take you up on that offer,” Mako said, as they reached the shop.

The shop owner didn’t look pleased but agreed not to press charges once everything was accounted for.

“Take care,” Mako said, handing over a few coins for the lunch he promised, as the man left, “and be careful.”

The man nodded before beating a hasty retreat. Mako had no clue if the man would listen to him or not but at least he had survived this encounter. Mako gave him a bit more than lunch would cost, hopefully it would help the man for the next few days.

“You,” the shop owner said, pointing to Mako.

Mako hesitated, worried the man was suddenly mad at him.

“Here,” the owner said, handing Mako a ring box.

“I don’t understand,” Mako said, looking down at the box.

“You saved me more than ten gold pieces today,” the owner said. “Take it, and get married to your boyfriend.”

“Oh,” Mako said, shocked into near speechlessness, “Ah, thank you.”

Mako had in his own way, asked for a sign. He thought it would be a negative one but apparently the world wanted Mako to marry Lu Ten. Between his grandparent’s random interference, and the free ring, something had to be going on behind the scenes. 

He wondered wildly for a moment if Oma had done something, but quickly dismissed the thought. They didn’t have time for any more spiritual intervention.

“See,” Yin said, “everything worked out.”

Mako nodded in a slight daze. He noticed his grandma’s attention on one of the necklaces that had been stolen.

“Hope everything works out for you two as well,” Mako said, nodding to the necklace. His grandfather shook his head good humoredly.

Mako would later kick himself for not getting the man’s name before he left. He still didn’t know it.

He didn’t have much time to think on it as the guards were once again at Mako’s side.

Mako knew they technically still needed the money, though the reason he initially wanted the job was already solved. It would also be useful to have eyes and ears in the guard for anything related to Aang or Azula. 

As it was now, the city would fall before the three of them would know what was going on. Iroh wasn’t too concerned about it as of now, because they still had time before that happened, but Mako hated not knowing.

The only issue was, there was something the two men weren’t telling him as they talked up the job and Mako was nervous as to what it could be. Still, against better judgement, he agreed to the offer.

“Great,” the guard that recruited him said. “Junji can take you to our boss to see about a job. The guard house closest to the inner wall is where he will be tomorrow. Meet him there.”

“Who’s Junji?” Mako asked.

“I am,” the other guard said.

Mako took in the other man, slightly surprised he had made it as a guard with as nervous as he seemed.

“Alright, see you tomorrow then,” Mako said, walking back towards home, though he stopped to tell his boss he wouldn’t be in the next day.

“Lu, baby,” Mako called opening the door. There was no reply.

Mako slipped into Iroh’s room. Hopefully he could catch the other man before he went into his room and found the ring sitting on his bed. Iroh’s room was simply the best place to hide it for now.

With the ring hidden, Mako moved towards his own bedroom and saw Lu Ten sprawled over the bed still sound asleep. He laid down next to Lu Ten and started gently waking him up. Lu Ten had become difficult to wake since he shifted to sleeping during the day.

Lu Ten groaned slightly as he turned to face Mako, his lips pulled into a pout that Mako kissed from his face.

“Morning,” Lu Ten said.

“Afternoon,” Mako replied, tucking a strand of hair behind Lu Ten’s ear. “I have some interesting news.”

“Oh?” Lu Ten asked, sitting up in bed.

“I got a new job,” Mako said. “Well, sort of, they haven’t hired me yet, but this guy Junji is supposed to take me to his boss tomorrow and we will see.”

“What’s the job,” Lu Ten asked, rubbing up and down Mako’s arm as he pulled him into his chest. Mako didn’t bother resisting the movement.

“It’s with the City Guards,” Mako said. “It pays more and it will allow us better information on the dealings going on in the city.”

“Where would this new job be?” Lu Ten asked.

“Not sure, probably all over but I’m meeting them at the guard house near the wall,” Mako said.

“I may join you then for lunch tomorrow,” Lu Ten said. “I assume you told your boss you weren’t working tomorrow?”

“Lunch sounds good and yeah,” Mako said. “I just think this is a better opportunity.”

“Just be careful,” Lu Ten said, yawning in the middle of his sentence.

“Are you still sleepy?” Mako asked. “Did I wake you too early?”

“Probably,” Lu Ten said, “but it’s fine. What did you do all morning, since I was apparently dead to the world?”

“Saved a store owner from being robbed, and a robber from being arrested,” Mako said.

“Ah,” Lu Ten said, chuckling slightly, “guess that would be how you got the new job offer?”

“Pretty much,” Mako said. “I’m a bit sleepy myself if you want to take a small nap together?”

“I just woke up,” Lu Ten said.

“And there’s still five hours before you have to go to work,” Mako said. “You need sleep.”

“I went to bed as soon as I got home,” Lu Ten said. “I’ve slept nearly twelve hours.”

“Oh,” Mako said, running the math through his head.

“You can nap if you want though,” Lu Ten said.

“But you just woke up,” Mako complained. “I’ll nap when Iroh gets home and you leave.”

“Alright,” Lu Ten said, rolling over on top of Mako. “Then how should we pass the time?”

Lu Ten’s smirk told Mako exactly how his boyfriend wished to pass the time.

“Making dinner,” Mako replied, pushing up on Lu Ten’s chest.

Lu Ten groaned and fell back on the bed like Mako was killing him.

“Come on,” Mako said. “Iroh made breakfast for us, even if you didn’t wake up for it, so we should make dinner for him.”

“Not even a little?” Lu Ten whined.

Mako made it halfway through making dinner before he caved.

Lu Ten was unashamed when Iroh walked through the door to find them laid out on the kitchen floor.

“Whatever is in that pot,” Iroh said, “I don’t want any knowing what you two have done in here.”

“It’s fine,” Mako said, pushing Lu Ten off of him. He tried to pull his clothes together but realized belatedly the tunic he was trying to tie wasn’t his. “We didn’t do anything to your food.”

Iroh shrugged but joined them at the table for dinner.

Lu Ten left shortly after.

“I need to tell you something,” Mako said, once the front door shut.

Iroh raised a brow at him.

“I bought an engagement ring,” Mako said. “It’s in your room.”

“Thanks, I don’t want it,” Iroh said.

“It’s for Lu Ten,” Mako clarified quickly before realizing Iroh was making fun of him.

“I would hope so,” Iroh said. “Congrats. I assume you wish to continue hiding it in my room?”

“If you would allow me to,” Mako said.

“Sure,” Iroh said. “It’ll be our little secret.”

“Thanks,” Mako said, “I’m taking a nap now, can you clean up the kitchen?”

“The food? Yes,” Iroh said. “Whatever you and Lu Ten did to the floor? No.”

Mako shot him an unamused look before leaving for his bedroom.

He wouldn’t say it was a nightmare, just another spirit vision from Oma.

They were in a cave, one very similar to the caves of Omashu, but also very different. The caves of Omashu gave of an odd feeling of both love and danger, these caves spoke of dark and twisted mysteries.

“Where are we?” Mako asked.

“Lake Laogai,” Oma replied.

“The Dai Li headquarters?” Mako asked. “Why?”

“Be wary of simple offerings,” Oma said. “Those who see your value may be your undoing. The Dai Li see everything in this city, but through who’s eyes do they see?”

“Can’t give me a straight answer?” Mako asked.

“Not this time,” Oma said. “If you need me, call on me, and Mako, you will need me.”

With that ominous statement, Mako shot up in bed, beathing harshly. He startled Iroh who had crawled into bed with him.

“Bad dream?” Iroh said.

“Lu Ten’s in danger,” Mako said.

“Oma then?” Iroh asked. “What trouble is he getting into this time?”

“I’m not sure,” Mako said. “Oma was vague but we need to keep our eyes open for the Dai Li. I think they may be watching us.”

Iroh frowned. “That’s not good,” Iroh said. “That’s not good at all.”

“I know,” Mako said, “I don’t have a clue what would have drawn their attention.”

“Maybe their attention hasn’t been drawn yet,” Iroh pointed out. “Oma gave you warnings weeks before Fong’s men took Lu Ten. This could be something distant.”

“She said be wary of those who saw my value,” Mako said.

“Yeah, sounds like spirit nonsense alright,” Iroh said.

Mako bit his lip before sighing.

“Mako,” Iroh said, grabbing his arm. “You can twist yourself up over this forever, but it will only become clear when it’s clear. Let’s go back to sleep and see what the morning brings.”

Mako nodded and cuddled up into Iroh’s side for the night.

The morning apparently brought Lu Ten collapsing on top of Mako and Iroh.

“Ah, you bastard,” Iroh yelled.

“My parents were happily married,” Lu Ten said.

“Bastard,” Iroh repeated.

Mako laughed into his pillow. “Why?” he asked.

“The opportunity was there,” Lu Ten said, kissing Mako’s temple.

“Bastard,” Iroh repeated, rolling over Mako to get away from Lu Ten.

“Call me a bastard one more time Ro,” Lu Ten mock threatened.

“Bastard,” Iroh said, before yelping as Lu Ten dug his fingers into Iroh’s ribcage.

“Ow,” Mako called, as Iroh’s heel slammed into his kneecap. “What did I do?”

“Sorry, casualties are sometimes a necessity in the art of war,” Lu Ten said, wrapping his legs around Iroh’s to keep him from kicking.

“This isn’t war, this is an unprompted attack,” Iroh said, pushing at Lu Ten’s hands as he tried to buck out of the head lock Lu Ten had him in. Lu Ten had to give up on tickling as he needed both hands and feet to hold Iroh down.

The pout his boyfriend sent his way told Mako that Lu Ten wished for assistance. Mako debated it.

On one hand, as it stood, Mako spent most of his time with Iroh and pissing the other man off might hinder that. On the other, Lu Ten was his boyfriend and messing with Iroh was Mako’s favorite past time.

Mako threw his leg over Iroh’s waist and ignored the playful glare the other man shot him as Mako dug his own fingers into Iroh’s sides.

If Iroh really wanted them to stop he would have said something, as it was, he was clearly enjoying the game as he wrestled with Lu Ten to get free. Mako wasn’t going to let him, least he try to retaliate later.

“Okay,” Iroh said, pushing at Mako with more force then normal, “stop, I’m going to pee on you.”

Lu Ten laughed but let Iroh go.

Mako waited, hoping Iroh wasn’t tricking them but the other man quickly retreated to the bathroom before hiding in his own room away from them.

“He’s not mad, is he?” Lu Ten asked.

“Don’t think so,” Mako said. “You know how he gets. I’ll talk to him when we wake up and make sure though.”

“Alright,” Lu Ten said, pulling Mako down to his chest. Lu Ten squeezed Mako’s side.

“Don’t start with me,” Mako said. 

He and Lu Ten were silent for a moment before Mako broke it.

“I had another meeting with Oma,” Mako said.

“What did she say?” Lu Ten asked.

“I’m not really sure,” Mako said, “just be careful.”

“Always am,” Lu Ten said.

Mako snorted in disbelief and Lu Ten smiled into his hair, as the two drifted to sleep once more.

If it wasn’t for Iroh, Mako would have missed his meeting at the guard house. As it was, Iroh tapped Mako on the head before leaving.

“Don’t you have somewhere to be?” Iroh asked.

“Shit,” Mako called, rushing to get dressed. By the time he made it to the main room, Iroh was gone. Mako would have to talk to him tonight.

He barely made it, skidding to a stop in front of the Junji guy who was waiting for him outside.

“Sorry, I’m late,” Mako said.

“It’s fine,” Junji replied. He was a very soft-spoken man. 

Junji walked him into the guard house and brought him to an office.

“Captain Lo?” Junji called. “This is the man we told you of yesterday. The one who stopped the robbery.”

“Thank you, Junji,” Captain Lo called, gesturing for the man to leave. Junji was quick to disappear once given permission to do so. Mako followed his movement and noticed the wanted posters across from where the man sat. The Sons of Agni were front and center.

Mako squinted slightly, wondering just what the Earth Kingdom wanted with their arrest now.

“I don’t think my men got your name,” Captain Lo said.

“Mako,” Mako replied, tearing his eyes from the poster.

The Captain nodded. “I was told you were a guard in another city?” the Captain asked.

“I was,” Mako said.

“Any military experience?” he asked.

“No,” Mako said. “I never served.”

“Probably better off,” Captain Lo said. “I served and I can tell you those were some hard years. You know I fought in the Siege of Ba Sing Se. That was the last fight I managed before retiring.”

Mako squinted. “I thought we couldn’t discuss the war,” Mako said.

“Civilians can’t,” the Captain said, “but we have to. The war slips in all the time. We just had an incident with a young man claiming firebenders had infiltrated the city a while back.”

“Was it true?” Mako asked, slightly worried for Lu Ten’s family.

“Doesn’t matter if it was,” Captain Lo said. “We are watching the family but the important part was what the young man was saying.”

“You arrested him for talking about the war,” Mako clarified.

“The Dai Li did,” Captain Lo said. “We had no say in it.”

“Sure,” Mako said, a twisting feeling building in his stomach.

“Glad you get it,” Captain Lo said. “We are the last line of defense for this city. Criminals often wiggle their way in and pose a threat to our way of life.”

Mako said nothing. This wasn’t what he imagined, but maybe this was where he needed to be. If the City Guard was this corrupt, keeping an eye on them would be paramount.

“I think you’ll fit in well here,” Captain Lo said. “Junji will be your new partner and you start tomorrow on a trail run.”

“I welcome the opportunity,” Mako said, through clinched teeth.

He glanced at Junji as Captain Lo lead him from the building, but the other man looked away at the eye contact. Why Captain Lo wanted the skittish one watching him, Mako didn’t know.

“Hey, Mako,” Lu Ten said, standing from where he had been leaning across the street.

Captain Lo stood up straight as he looked over Lu Ten.

“Who’s this?” the Captain asked.

“Lu?” Mako said. “He’s my friend.”

Mako hesitated to tell the Captain that Lu Ten was his boyfriend as something about Lu Ten had the man on guard.

Captain Lo hummed and stared at Lu Ten a bit longer before returning to the guard house.

“That was weird,” Mako said, “but so is everything else going on in there. They have our wanted posters.”

“Did he look familiar to you?” Lu Ten asked, instead of acknowledging Mako’s comments.

Mako’s brow furrowed. “I guess, but we see so many people I can’t really tell anymore,” Mako admitted.

Lu Ten hummed, looking over his shoulder at the guard house. “I feel like I know him,” Lu Ten said, “and it’s not a good feeling.”

“No,” Mako agreed, “he’s kind of corrupt.”

“So why work for him,” Lu Ten asked.

“So, his corruption doesn’t come up and surprise us,” Mako said. “There’s something off about the guards here.”

“There’s something off about everything here,” Lu Ten muttered.

“Well, yes,” Mako said, “but I mean really off about them. I may ask my new partner about it tomorrow, provided the man grows a spine between now and then.”

“Coward?” Lu Ten asked.

“Don’t know, but certainly nervous,” Mako said. “Not sure if it’s his nature or if he’s hiding something.”

“At least he’s close to keep an eye on if it’s the second,” Lu Ten said. “I don’t like this. I feel like we’ve just stepped into a sink hole we never even noticed was there.”  
Mako’s stomach clinched. “Yeah, that sounds about right,” Mako said, reaching for Lu Ten’s hand. The cave from his dream flashed into his mind but quickly disappeared.

Mako shook himself. “Let’s get lunch and then I need to talk to my boss about leaving,” Mako said.

“Alright,” Lu Ten said. “Just, please be careful with this new job.”

Mako looked over at Lu Ten and saw the worry shining in his eyes.

“Promise,” Mako said. A sinking feeling in his stomach told him Lu Ten was the one who needed to be careful but Mako had no clue what it was. “I love you.”

Lu Ten smiled softly. “I love you, too,” Lu Ten said, dropping a kiss on Mako’s head.

There was a letter on their door when they got back.

Mako pulled it down and opened it.

_The City Guard reports all information back to the Dai Li. Don’t trust them with anything._

Mako glanced at Lu Ten who waited patiently for Mako to share the letter’s contents.

“Apparently we aren’t the only ones suspicious of the city guard,” Mako said. “Someone’s trying to warn us.”

“Of what?” Lu Ten said. “The guards have no reason to be suspicious of us.”

“I don’t know,” Mako said, frowning down at the note, “but I’m going to find out.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, look, it's the plot, back to ruin things, but hey, I gave you guys Junji! For anyone who doesn't know who Junji is, I recommend reading my story An Unknown Variable.


	18. The Tale of Iroh II - Iroh

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Iroh has a heart to hear with his great granduncle and searches for a new job while the group continues to worry about their new watchers

Iroh made his way serenely towards work as the day felt nice. It was just warm enough to not be over bearing and a breeze blew through the streets every few minutes. He was glad the day was looking better than the night before.

Last night had been odd, and the day before it even odder. Iroh wasn’t sure what possessed Mako to want to suddenly buy a ring when he seemed so insistent that he and Lu Ten would take things slow. Iroh wondered if the slow and steady tempo of city life wasn’t getting to the man. He was tempted to talk to Mako about it but was worried he’d upset him.

Then Mako’s nightmares were a concern all their own. Oma only ever seemed to talk to Mako when Lu Ten, or occasionally Iroh, was in danger. Iroh knew Mako and expected the other man to start chasing ghosts. There was no point to it, but Mako would likely do it anyway.

With any luck, Lu Ten’s stunt this morning would distract Mako from his dream. It certainly distracted Iroh.

He hoped his friends didn’t find offense at his quick retreat. Sometimes the things they did would overwhelm him. While the tickle fight had been fine, once he retreated to the bathroom, Iroh felt nervous returning to their room. The mood was off and Iroh no longer felt comfortable so he retreated to his own room to sleep more.

Iroh knew it made Mako and Lu Ten feel bad, but it was the nature of their relationship and Iroh liked things the way they were. He liked being able to retreat when needed without them feeling the need to follow. He also liked that they still checked up on him when he did retreat, as it showed they weren’t ignoring him, even when he wasn’t there. He didn’t know how to make them understand that though.

Iroh pulled his hair back into a ponytail as he entered the tea shop. He wasted no time in grabbing his apron and joining Zuko in the chaos of the morning rush.

“How’d your date go?” Iroh asked, nudging Zuko slightly. While it had been a very weird experience watching his grandfather get asked out by a woman who wasn’t his grandmother, Iroh was glad Zuko was at least somewhat content with his current affairs.

“Okay,” Zuko said.

“Are you going to see her again?” Iroh asked, grabbing a tray. “I’ll take the left side tables today.”

Zuko nodded and walked off, not bothering to answer Iroh’s question. Iroh glanced back at his namesake. Uncle Iroh only offered a shrug in response.

Iroh took the tray to the proper table before returning to the back. He always arrived at the end of the first rush, so there would be an hour or so before the second started up.

Iroh leaned back against the wall and waited for Zuko to get back.

“Well,” Iroh asked, “are you?”

“No,” Zuko said, pushing past Iroh.

“Well, why not?” Iroh asked, following him. He wondered briefly if trying to get his grandfather to go on another date with this girl might be a bad idea, before brushing it away.

“There’s no point,” Zuko said, though he offered no clarification as to why.

Iroh wasn’t stupid though, and knew the answer lied in the fact that Zuko wasn’t staying, even if Uncle Iroh thought he was.

“Shame, she was nice,” Iroh said.

“Who are you dating?” Zuko demanded, trying to turn the conversation back on Iroh.

“You want a list?” Iroh replied, defensively before realizing Zuko didn’t mean anything by his question. “Actually, I’m not dating anyone. I never really have.” Zuko squinted at him in confusion and Iroh smirked at him.

“What does that even mean?” Zuko demanded.

“If it was any of your business,” Iroh said, snatching up the new tray placed before him, “you would already know.”

Zuko huffed at him and Iroh laughed to himself as he walked away.

“Do you need anything else?” Iroh asked the table as he poured their tea.

“A date with you?” one of the women at the table asked. Iroh gave a fake smile.

“Sorry,” Iroh said, reaching up to his neck, “I’m taken.”

Iroh jolted slightly at not feeling the necklace there but recalled it was tucked into his shirt pocket instead. Still, Iroh tucked his hand into his pocket to make sure it was still there. He ran his thumb softly over the rough etching of the necklace.

The woman pouted and Iroh walked off. Iroh never told Mako and Lu Ten that he often used them to get out of sticky situations. If Iroh wasn’t interested he usually just told people he was taken and let Mako and Lu Ten do the rest of the work. No didn’t always mean no to certain people but a huge man like Lu Ten very quickly made them see reason.

People often understood the word taken better than the words not interested. Iroh was sure the woman at the table wasn’t malicious in nature but it was better to head them off at the start.

“Why didn’t Uncle force you on a date?” Zuko muttered, having watched the interaction.

“I’m not his nephew, and I’m already content in my relationships,” Iroh said. “If I was interested, I would have said yes.”

Zuko frowned. “Relationships? Plural?” Zuko asked. “You said you weren’t dating anyone!”

“Yes,” Iroh said. “You’ll understand more when you’re older but I’m in an open relationship and they aren’t really romantic in nature. I don’t date people. It’s just not something that interests me. Romance and things of that nature aren’t compelling. I just have very close and intense friendships.”

“Lucky you,” Zuko said. “I don’t want to go on another date.”

“Was it really so bad?” Iroh asked. His grandfather had never mentioned the Jin girl before, or really any of the events of his hiding in Ba Sing Se, so Iroh really only had bits and pieces of this part of his grandfather’s past.

“No,” Zuko said. “It was nice and that’s the problem. This situation is temporary.”

“I’ve had a few of those partnerships,” Iroh said. Zuko glanced over. “The ones where you can’t stay but they can’t follow. I usually chose to make the most of it. Take in the moments as they happen. You say this stay is temporary, but what does temporary mean?”

“Uncle,” Zuko yelled, “Rozin is starting to talk like you, what did you do to him?”

Iroh burst out laughing as Uncle Iroh appeared from the kitchen a bemused look on his face.

“I have no idea what you are referring to Lee,” he said. “Rozin is a brilliant man of his own making. If he and I have come to the same conclusion, maybe it is a conclusion worth considering.”

Zuko grunted and walked off to clean a few of the tables. Iroh was pretty sure those tables where already cleaned but he made no comment. Clearly Zuko was struggling with something but Iroh already knew he wouldn’t share what it was with him.

The rest of the day passed peacefully and as soon as the last patron left Iroh was wiping down the few tables and setting the chairs on top. He did one last sweep of the shop to make sure no fires were still running before blowing out the candles in the rooms and vacating the shop. He locked the door behind him before making his way home.

What he found there made his stomach drop. Lu Ten had already left for work but Mako was pacing around the main room, as he usually did when thinking.

“Mako?” Iroh asked, cautiously. “You aren’t getting cold feet before even asking, are you?”

“What?” Mako asked, turning to Iroh. “No, no, here.”

Mako thrust a piece of parchment into Iroh’s hands. Iroh looked down, his brows furrowing at the ominous note.

“So, we are being watched then?” Iroh asked. “How’d your interview go? Did they accept you? Is this entire thing a ploy to get you closer or is someone warning you now that you work for them? Did they figure out who we are because you now work for them or is this all coincidence that it happened at the same time?”

“I don’t know!” Mako yelled. His face softened when he turned to Iroh. “I’m sorry, it’s just Lu Ten and I have been running those same questions through our minds all afternoon and the only thing we know is that it can’t be coincidence. Not with my dreams about Oma and not with me just having joined the guards. Oma warned me not to trust people who valued my skills and this note is directly calling out the guards. Whoever this is, unknowingly echoed Oma’s warning. That has to mean something.”

Iroh’s head was pounding slightly. On one hand they had no information and the last thing he wanted was to lead Mako down rabbit holes. Mako was entirely too easy to lead down random rabbit holes. Then again, it’s not paranoia if they really are out to get you. Iroh just had no clue, outside of maybe the Dai Li, who was out to get them.

“This is a mess,” Iroh said, plopping down on the sofa.

Mako sat down next to him.

“I didn’t want to worry Lu Ten,” Mako said, “but if I’m honest with you right now, Ro, I’m scared.”

Iroh looked over at Mako and noticed the man was shaking. Mako wasn’t someone who got scared easily, not with the things he’d seen and done throughout life.  
Iroh pulled Mako into a hug. “What’s wrong?” Iroh asked.

“If Oma and this note are right, Lu Ten has the Dai Li’s attention,” Mako said. “The Dai Li, Ro, they are horrible. They took airbenders off the streets of Ba Sing Se and were forcing them to become an army for the Earth Kingdom. Young or old, it didn’t matter. Some of the things Wu told me about them? I don’t want them to be targeting Lu Ten.”

Iroh gave up on his hug, and pulled Mako into his lap until the other man was curled up onto a ball. Mako’s head rested on Iroh’s shoulder and Iroh ignored the tears splashing on his neck.

“I’ve nearly lost him so many times, but I haven’t been this scared since Fong’s men took him,” Mako said. “The Dai Li were so hard to out maneuver and that was with military and police back up. Here and now? If they get Lu Ten, I don’t know if we would get him back.”

“We would,” Iroh assured gruffly. “We would, or we’d die trying. There aren’t any other options than that.”

“I feel like I’m going crazy with this,” Mako said. “I’m jumping at shadows in my own home.”

Iroh didn’t have a response to that, so he held Mako tighter and let the other man cry.

Mako tended to bottle things up tightly, so when he did finally come loose, he cried for far more than just the obvious. Iroh tried to think back to the last time Mako cried and grimaced slightly. Mako might be crying for a while.

Iroh pet Mako’s head as the other man cried, then carried him to bed once the tears finally stopped and soft snores replaced them.

Iroh sighed as he sat at the edge of the bed.

He didn’t know what to think or what to do. He was starting to feel as jumpy as Mako and that was the last thing he wanted.

Iroh tucked the blankets tighter around Mako, before leaving.

He would be dead tired the next morning, but his mind wouldn’t stop moving.

Iroh climbed to the roof and slowly made his way towards the bar Lu Ten worked at.

As he went, he glanced down into alleyways and watched the adjacent roofs for other presences. Iroh felt eyes on his back, but he wasn’t sure if he was imagining them or not. Years in the military told him he wasn’t but every time he turned, there was no one there.

With the Dai Li, that didn’t mean much. Iroh silently cursed Kyoshi. Normally he idolized the woman but finding out she founded the Dai Li had been the hardest wakeup call Iroh had ever experienced as a child. Even your idols could fail at something.

Iroh’s eyes snapped to his left as a blur seemed to sweep through his peripheral vision, but again he saw nothing.

Gritting his teeth, Iroh slid to the ground outside the bar.

Iroh pushed open the door and nodded to the owner. He had become rather familiar with Mako and Iroh since Lu Ten started working here.

“Hey,” Iroh said, leaning against the wall next to where Lu Ten was posted.

Lu Ten raised a brow. “I assume you went home and found out about our new shadows?” Lu Ten asked.

“Mako’s asleep,” Iroh said, emphasizing the word asleep.

“You didn’t give him medication to get those results, did you?” Lu Ten asked. “He needs to be able to wake up if something happens.”

“No, he, ah, might have cried,” Iroh said. “He’s worried about you.”

Lu Ten looked down. “Do I need to come home?” Lu Ten asked.

“Won’t do any good,” Iroh said. “Mako’s not awake. Just work your shift and check on him when you get home.”

Lu Ten nodded, his eyes sweeping the crowd.

“Our new shadows, followed me,” Iroh said. “At least I hoped they did and this entire thing doesn’t have me seeing shadows.”

“Soldier’s heart?” Lu Ten asked.

Iroh nodded, knowing Lu Ten meant combat neurosis. Iroh’s anxiety was through the roof right now, every sound and noise poking sharply at his senses.

“Me too,” Lu Ten whispered. “My heart’s been racing since Mako and I got home. Mako can be worried about me, but I’m more worried about him. He’s walking right into the rat-viper’s nest if that note is to be believed.”

“Mako tell you about Oma?” Iroh asked.

“Yeah, why did La say something too?” Lu Ten asked.

“No, you know him, he only does something when I’m dying,” Iroh said. “We may hear from him soon, but not today, hopefully.”

“Don’t say that shit,” Lu Ten said harshly. Iroh jerked his head around, use to Lu Ten being the most relaxed of the group.

“Sorry,” Iroh said. “I assume Agni is being as silent as ever.”

“I’m starting to think he doesn’t want to talk to me,” Lu Ten said, smirking darkly.

“Maybe he wants you to talk to him first,” Iroh suggested.

“Well, then he’ll be waiting,” Lu Ten said.

“Are we ever going to talk about what the spirits want from us?” Iroh said.

Lu Ten licked his lips. “I don’t want to,” Lu Ten said. “Right now, they are still proving useful but spirits don’t always say what they mean or mean what they say.”

“No,” Iroh corrected. “Spirits never lie, but they do mislead and misguide. If you try too hard to figure out what they mean, you will lead yourself astray. With spirits, you need to trust your gut. At least that’s what Grandpa Aang always said.”

“My guts are too clinched up to trust right now,” Lu Ten said.

Iroh nodded.

“I’ll see you when you get home,” Iroh said. “Don’t worry too hard about things, they haven’t made a move for us yet.”

“If we wait for them to make a move, it might be too late,” Lu Ten said. His face was dark. Often times Lu Ten’s military background hid itself behind a boyish behavior, but it was times like this where Iroh felt closest to Lu Ten, when their military traumas reared their ugly heads. It wasn’t a nice closeness, but it was a closeness all the same.

Iroh ignored him and kissed his cheek before leaving. He didn’t want to think about that.

It was on the way home that Iroh spotted him.

Dark green, nearly black robes swishing around the corner, just a bit too late to be missed. Rock gloves covered his hands, placed neatly behind his back.

Iroh debated following, but held back. It would be easy to make the first move and grab the man, but Iroh had no clue what trap was being built or for what cause. He wasn’t going to spring it unknowing.

Iroh slipped back into their home and crawled into bed with Mako. He held the other man tightly, as even in sleep Mako’s body was tense with stress.

The next few days offered no relief to the men’s stress.

Mako seemed jumpy and often came home with complaints of his partner. Mako claimed Junji was uncoordinated and spacey. Mako accused him only the night before of doing it on purpose. Mako wasn’t sure what the man’s angle was but after nearly knocking Mako out with a door, Mako was starting to be suspicious of foul play. It didn’t help that more and more ominous notes kept appearing on their door.

The first one had read “You’re being watched, your house is not” which was rather obvious as what was the point of watching a house with no one in it, of course the Dai Li were following the actual people.

The next said “Keep the Red one safe” which threw Mako into a tailspin he’d yet to come out of. Lu Ten didn’t walk to work alone anymore. Iroh usually walked him there.

The last and most ominous “They know Red should be dead, they want him”. That one confused them at first. None of them could make sense of it until Lu Ten jolted up from his seat.

“My assassins,” Lu Ten said. “The ones from when we first met. Of course, they would be in the city, this was where they were from. I’m supposed to be dead. They know who I am, who I actually am.”

“So, the Dai Li were your assassins?” Mako asked.

“I don’t know,” Lu Ten said, pulling slightly at his hair. “I can’t even remember what they looked like. I kind of got hit in the head with a rock.”

“Great,” Iroh muttered. “Another threat to add to the list.”

“Growing every day,” Mako agreed.

They both walked Lu Ten to work the night before, just to make sure. They didn’t leave until midnight when Lu Ten practically pushed them out the door.

To say the least, Iroh was tired at this point, and his work wasn’t making anything easier.

Iroh slid between two tables that were gradually getting closer and closer as the day went by. He reminded himself to move one as soon as the two groups left.

It was busy. Busy enough to drag Uncle Iroh from the back to pour the patrons’ tea directly himself.

It was as Uncle Iroh headed to the back that Iroh’s life took another spin. He had, in all honesty, forgotten about this part. It was, Iroh knew the beginning of the end of his family’s stay in Ba Sing Se. Only a week or so separated them from the down fall of the City.

Iroh bit his lip as he debated bringing it up to Lu Ten and Mako. It what they came here for, but they were also stressed enough. For now, he’d hold his tongue but eventually they would have to take action.

A man dressed in robes most common to the Upper Ring made his way over to Uncle Iroh.

“So,” the man said, “you're the genius behind this incredible brew. The whole city is buzzing about you! I hope Pao pays you well.”

“Good tea is its own reward,” Uncle Iroh replied.

Iroh made a noise of disagreement but no one noticed.

“But it doesn't have to be the only reward. How would you like to have your own tea shop?” the man offered.

Iroh smiled slightly as Uncle Iroh’s face lit up. “My own tea shop? This is a dream come true!” Uncle Iroh said. His excitement was contagious and Iroh found himself smiling too, even as he knew what would be coming shortly.

He jolted slightly as he realized he’d also need a new job. Pao may pay well, but the man was rude and Iroh wasn’t working for him without the benefit of keeping an eye on Zuko and Uncle Iroh. Not if he had another option.

Iroh looked away from the conversation as Pao made his way over and went back to serving the patrons. He really didn’t want to get drawn into whatever was about to happen.

Zuko brushed past him towards his uncle.

“Did you hear, nephew?” Uncle Iroh said. “This man wants to give us our own tea shop in the Upper Ring of the city!”

“That's right, young man, your life is about to change for the better,” the man who offered the tea shop said.

“I'll try to contain my joy,” Zuko said, sarcastically turning around and walking out.

The door slammed and Iroh glanced between it and Uncle Iroh.

“Well,” Uncle Iroh said, “he will come around. For now, if you would Rozin, help me serve these customers and close the shop early?”

“Of course,” Iroh said.

“You know,” Uncle Iroh said, as they walked back towards the kitchen, “you are welcome to join us.”

“I can’t my friends are down here,” Iroh said. “I’m where I need to be for now.”

“I see, well, it has been a joy getting to know you better,” Uncle Iroh said. “If you would humor me for a last cup of tea before you leave?”

Iroh made a face but nodded. When he saw the last customers out the door, he joined Uncle Iroh at a table off to the side.

“I ran into your friend a month or so ago,” Uncle Iroh said, as he poured the tea.

“Which one?” Iroh asked. “Neither of them mentioned anything.”

“Lu, I believe. The red one,” Uncle Iroh said. “He’s a fairly remarkable man.”

“They both are,” Iroh said, cautiously, not aware Uncle Iroh knew Lu Ten’s name.

“I’m still not sure what you boys are doing down here, but I wish you the best of luck in whatever it is you have planned,” Uncle Iroh said.

“We don’t have anything planned,” Iroh admitted. “We’ve been winging it for years. It’s starting to bite us in the ass, as we have the Dai Li on our tail. It’s an odd situation. They know, that we know, they are watching us.”

“I am sorry to hear that,” Uncle Iroh said. “You have not touched your tea.”

It was a statement, but Iroh could hear the question behind it.

“My grandfather was very close with his uncle,” Iroh said. “The man loved tea and my family took that to heart. When I was born, they named me for him and the expectations came with it. He was a military man, so I was to be a military man. He was wise, so I needed to be wise. He loved tea, so I needed to love tea. I managed the military aspect, but the other two? I hate tea, but it’s all anyone ever got me. Sometimes I feel like the gifts I got were meant for someone else.”

Iroh shook his head as Rozin’s memories shifted. He sighed slightly, knowing he brought it on himself, that he was once more a second. At least Rozin the first didn’t actually exists. It was all still Iroh’s own issues but within a different context.

“I am sorry to hear that, too,” Uncle Iroh said. “Tea is not something to be forced. It is a manner of bridging the gap between people. I use it to make friends, as rarely do I stumble upon a man like you. You see, young Rozin, it’s not the tea that matters.”

Iroh’s head shot up and he stared at Uncle Iroh in disbelief.

“Then what does?” Iroh asked.

“The people you share it with,” Uncle Iroh said. “The main ingredient to good tea is love. You make your tea with love, for your family, your friends and your fellow man. It is the simple act of sharing something you care for that makes tea taste properly. Otherwise, it is simply hot leaf juice.”

“That’s what I always thought tea was, hot leaf juice,” Iroh said, looking down at the cup. He took a sip and made a face. “I guess I just can’t stomach it anymore. To many bad memories of forcing myself to drink it.”

“A shame, but understandable,” Uncle Iroh said. “Please don’t make yourself uncomfortable. I would rather drink nothing with you than watch you force yourself to drink something you cannot.”

“Wish my family felt the same,” Iroh muttered.

“Not to pry even more into your family life, but did you ever tell them?” Uncle Iroh asked.

Iroh paused. He hadn’t. He had been too afraid of what they would think. Iroh had always felt the expectations of his name like iron chains around his legs. It was a weight too heavy for him when he was young, and even now, far away from the name Iroh II, he still sometimes felt the weight too keenly.

“No,” Iroh admitted. “My mother loved him like he was her grandfather. His loss had cut my family deeply and as a child I felt the need to fill those shoes. They were too big. I couldn’t do it and I didn’t want to admit it.”

“I do not think they were too big for you,” Uncle Iroh said. “I think his shoes simply did not fit you. In fact, those shoes sound as if they were too small for the man you’d become. The man you made for yourself. I do not know your great granduncle, but I’m sure he’d be proud of the man you are. You should be proud of the man you are. If your family cannot see that worth, then they do not deserve you. Something I wish my nephew would understand as well.”

Iroh discreetly wiped at his eyes. “He was a notorious lady’s man,” Iroh said, not entirely sure he wanted to admit this but needing to anyway. “It was never the tea that hurt the most. It was that, at a time when life was at its most complicated, he was a lady’s man and that was never something I could match. My family, somewhat accepted it but I could always tell there was a lack of understanding. There were some nights where I wished I could be that lady’s man, if only to make the confused looks stop.”

“Yes,” Uncle Iroh said. “I overheard your conversation with my nephew and I am sorry your family made you feel bad about that. Love is a beautiful thing and comes in many different forms. You and your friends seem happy together. I suppose that’s all that matters.”

Uncle Iroh seemed contemplative about something as he stared at his own empty cup. “Yes, that’s all that matters,” he repeated. “Well, Rozin, if you have nothing else, I need to start packing. I wish you the best in life young man and please pass on the sentiment to your friends. You boys stay safe.”

“We’re trying out best,” Iroh said, standing to leave. He was surprised when Uncle Iroh pulled him into a hug, but he hugged back tightly before exiting the tea shop.

The calm nearly hypnotizing air of the tea shop disappeared and realty came crashing down.

Iroh needed a new job.

He supposed the best place to start was the bulletin board.

He didn’t really make it that far.

“Ah shit,” Iroh said, as he knocked down another man. He helped the other back to his feet. The man’s brown eyes were blown wide in surprise as he was hoisted to his feet. He was fairly thin and easily lifted. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” the man said, moving to wipe his hands on his pants. The left one left a blood stain behind. The man lifted his hand and took in the deep scrape.

“Here,” Iroh said, gesturing the man over to a bench. “I can help.”

“No, its fine, my father is a healer,” the man said. “He can patch it up.”

Iroh had already coated his hand in the water and was running it over the other man’s.

The other man fell silent, watching as the scrape disappeared under Iroh’s work.

“How?” the man asked.

“I’m a waterbender,” Iroh said. “It’s a skill we have.”

“It would be useful around the medical house my dad has,” the man said. “You wouldn’t happen to need a job, would you? It would make our lives easier.”

“Well, I just quit my last one,” Iroh admitted, wondering what he’d done for such an odd bit of luck.

“Great,” the man exclaimed. “I mean, sorry to hear that, but I can get you a job with my father and maybe then he’ll leave me alone.”

“I’m sorry?” Iroh asked. “Why do you need him to leave you alone?”

“I don’t want to be a healer and maybe if his attention is on you, he’ll finally leave me alone,” the man admitted.

Iroh stared at the man for a moment. “Do I want to work for your father?” Iroh asked.

“He’s a good man, for the most part. I just don’t want to help with the family business,” the other man said. “He doesn’t get that.”

“Alright,” Iroh said, not wishing to pry further into the man’s life. “I need a job so I guess I’ll be there.”

“Great,” the man said. “It’s at the end of this street, near the inner wall. Just ask for Biju if you can’t find me when you come.”

“Will do,” Iroh said. “Try not to fall over anymore.”

“Maybe you try not running into people,” Biju jokingly shot back.

Iroh smiled as he turned back towards home. Biju was odd, but interesting.

“Hey,” Iroh said, walking into his home. “So, I lost my job and got a new one within hours of each other.”

Mako and Lu Ten looked up from the Pai Sho game they were playing.

“What?” Lu Ten asked. “How did you lose the job at the tea shop?”

“I quit when your dad and cousin did,” Iroh admitted. “Then there was this healer guy who recruited me to get his dad off his back or something. I’m not sure. I’ll see tomorrow.”

“Always an interesting time when we leave Ro alone,” Mako said.

“Ro does get into the strangest circumstances,” Lu Ten agreed. He stood and stretched, leaning down to pull Mako into a kiss.

“As if you two don’t,” Iroh said, moving to follow Lu Ten out the door.

Mako laughed even as the door shut.

Iroh felt their Dai Li watchers fall into place behind him and Lu Ten as they made their way to the bar Lu Ten worked at.

“Are you actually okay?” Lu Ten asked. “What happened with the tea shop?”

“Your dad got offered a shop in the Upper Ring,” Iroh said. He tried for nonchalant, not wanting to alarm Lu Ten to what was coming. “I couldn’t go with them and I hate Pao, but yes I’m fine. Are you?”

“No,” Lu Ten admitted. “Mako and I have found some interesting information out today. I suppose he can tell you when you get home. I’m getting really worried here, I feel like whatever is going on is reaching a boiling point.”

“I feel it too,” Iroh said, his stomach sinking. “I was hoping to write it off as my imagination but if you’re coming to the same conclusion we may be in serious trouble.”

“I hate this,” Lu Ten whispered, grabbing for Iroh’s hand. Iroh let the other man hold it. He knew how Lu Ten got when people pulled their hand back from him. Lu Ten was stressed enough without Iroh denying affection.

“We will make it to the other side,” Iroh said. “We always do.”

“Luck doesn’t last forever,” Lu Ten said.

“Good thing we’ve never operated on luck before,” Iroh said.

“No,” Lu Ten muttered, “just occasional and conditional spiritual assistance.”

“Well, yes,” Iroh admitted, “but apparently Oma is already on it.”

Lu Ten sighed. “Personally, I feel that makes it worse,” Lu Ten said. “They want something and eventually they are going to force the issue.”

Iroh said nothing, knowing Lu Ten was right and hoping that point would be far into the future. Surely the spirits wouldn’t let them die before the war ended. They were the ones who brought them back.

Iroh pushed down the voice in his head that reminded him they were brought back for a reason, that they weren’t currently agreeing to fulfill.

“Do you want me to stay?” Iroh asked as they reached the bar.

“No, you and Mako stayed late enough last time,” Lu Ten said. “They aren’t stupid enough to grab me while I’m on the clock.”

Iroh nodded, leaving Lu Ten with a quick kiss on the lips. He let it linger longer than he normally would. Something about tonight had him seeking his own comfort, more than he usually would.

If Lu Ten was surprised by the kiss he didn’t show it. Instead simply whispering a soft goodnight to Iroh before pushing him back towards home.

Iroh was sure the Dai Li agents watching them were more than confused over just what the deal with their relationship was and Iroh could admit to purposely confusing them.

Once back home for the second time that night, Iroh curled up in bed with Mako to wait for Lu Ten to come home. He’d interrogate the other two men about what he missed tomorrow.

What Iroh wouldn’t know until morning, was that his Dai Li watcher never followed him home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Spoliers!*
> 
> Uncle Iroh isn't just talking about Iroh's relationships, he's also talking about Lu Ten's as he slowly comes to terms with his son's sexuality (and you know the fact that he's alive).
> 
> Also, next chapter is sad.


	19. The Dai Li - Lu Ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lu Ten got captured.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Kidnapping and brainwashing
> 
> If Junji seems ooc from my other depiction he's A) not Lu Ten's boyfriend and B) very stressed right now.
> 
> I legit forgot it was Sunday, my bad.

Lu Ten felt it slightly overkill that both Mako and Iroh were walking him to work. Usually it was only Iroh who did so but now he had them both trailing after him.

He thought that would be the end of it. That they would drop him off and return home but no, the two of them stayed, despite the fact that they would need to go to work in the morning.

“Guys,” Lu Ten said. “Go home and sleep.”

“No,” Mako replied, bringing Lu Ten’s hand to his lips. “Not until its safe.”

“Not to be that person but will we ever be safe?” Iroh muttered.

Lu Ten slid his drink away, knowing that the type of drunk Iroh was depended on his mood when he started drinking. The fun and sloppy drunk wasn’t showing up tonight and Lu Ten didn’t want to deal with the angry and grumpy drunk. 

Angry and grumpy drunk Iroh was kind of an ass. If anyone was starting a fight in the bar tonight, it would be Iroh if Lu Ten let him keep drinking.

Iroh grunted at the loss of his drink but didn’t fight Lu Ten on it, instead leaning back in his chair and throwing his arm around Mako’s shoulder.

The two had dragged a table and a set of chairs over towards Lu Ten. His boss had watched them at first, likely worried Lu Ten would start drinking with them. Once it was clear that Lu Ten was babysitting the two biggest problem children in the bar, his boss left him to wrangle his friends into some semblance of order.

Lu Ten wasn’t use to being the responsible one in their relationship. Iroh kept himself in line for the most part but if Mako didn’t stop eyeing people he was going to start a fight without ever moving.

“Not sure how you two plan to protect me, with how much the two of you have drunk,” Lu Ten said, pulling Mako into his chest. “You two probably can’t even make it home at this point.”

“I’m not that drunk,” Mako said.

“Ro is,” Lu Ten replied.

“I am,” Iroh agreed.

“I can get him home,” Mako said.

“Then do so,” Lu Ten said, “right now. Go home and go to bed. I’ll be fine.”

Mako shook his head and Lu Ten sighed. “It’s not going to do us any good to be tired,” Lu Ten said. “Go to bed, Mako.”

“It’s not like I’ll be able to sleep even if I do go home,” Mako said.

“Please,” Lu Ten said, taking Mako’s face in his hand. “You’ll need to be awake tomorrow. You’re walking right into the very heart of the issue and you don’t need to slip up because you didn’t sleep.”

Mako sighed deeply. “I’m worried about you,” Mako said.

Lu Ten glanced around before pulling Mako into a kiss. “I’m worried about you too,” Lu Ten said. “Go be worried at home.”

Mako huffed out a laugh before nodding. He grabbed Iroh, who was unprepared to be standing and stumbled into him. Mako threw an arm around Iroh to hold the man steady. Iroh wasn’t quite drunk but he certainly couldn’t walk straight.

Lu Ten sighed in relief as the two of them left.

He already knew he was being watched, but the lack of Mako and Iroh at his side made the stare on his back feel even stronger. He glanced around the bar before ducking outside for a moment. A glance to the rooftops showed nothing. Iroh was the only one of them who had caught a glimpse of their Dai Li watchers.

Lu Ten hadn’t told the other two, but he had felt another heavy gaze following him the last few days as well. Whoever it was, they weren’t following from rooftops, but at ground level. Lu Ten had yet to determine if his other follower was friend or foe. He suspected his less subtle watcher was their ominous note writer but without any hard evidence, Lu Ten was hesitant to tell the others. He didn’t want them to panic over nothing.

The second gaze was present tonight and for the first time Lu Ten caught a glimpse of his non-Dai Li spy. He was kind of cute, with broad shoulders and a squarish face. He remined Lu Ten of Iroh, which wasn’t in anyway a bad thing. He didn’t seem to realize he had been spotted though.

Lu Ten glanced away and back up to the rooftop.

His Dai Li watcher was gone.

Lu Ten glanced towards the other and noticed he had slipped away too. Either the man was now the one being watched, or the two were working together.

The City Guards worked with the Dai Li from what the note said, but was that man a City Guard? If he was, he wasn’t in uniform.

Lu Ten shook his head. It didn’t matter. Either the man had gotten caught by being over obvious or he was working with the Dai Li. It made little difference to Lu Ten which it was. Tonight, it simply meant he was left in peace without eyes on his back.

Lu Ten heard a crashing noise in the bar and sighed to himself as he moved to break up the two boys, likely not old enough to even be in the bar, currently beating the life out of each other by the counter. One of them had lost their shoe and Lu Ten was too tired to be humored by the odd occurrence. Though he did take a brief moment to wonder just why the boy had lost it and where it could have gone.

A girl stood nearby in hysterics that registered as fake. She seemed entirely too pleased with the events occurring around her, even as she gasped for breath and wiped away tears that weren’t even there. Lu Ten couldn’t stand those types of people who caused drama for the sake of it. He knew exactly the culprit behind this fight. Now which was the boyfriend and which was the bait, Lu Ten didn’t know.

“Stop,” Lu Ten commanded. That was normally enough, even for the bravest of drunks to back down.

Lu Ten knew what he looked like. He wasn’t stupid. He was six foot five inches and, as Iroh put it, built like a tree. Lu Ten knew while the height came from his mother’s side, the build came from his father. His mother’s family was willowy according to his father and Lu Ten no longer fit that description, though he once did.

Combine his size and his voice, rough and gravely since he burned his throat trying to escape his assassination attempt, Lu Ten was not someone often tried. Mako and Iroh of course found this fact rather amusing as, in their words, Lu Ten was a cuddly giant.

Lu Ten often objected to the term, as while he was more often cuddly then not, that didn’t make him less deadly.

These were drunk teenagers though, and there was no dumber force on earth than the combination of teenage bravado and alcohol. Lu Ten knew that from experience, and soon these two boys would too.

The instigator, or at least the one that had been on the offense, swung around and tried to hit Lu Ten.

Lu Ten grabbed his fist with his hand and swung the boy around into a headlock.

“I said stop,” Lu Ten repeated. His words seeming to register now that the boy couldn’t do anything. “Neither of you are supposed to be here and you know it. You shouldn’t be fighting in here either, you both should know that too. I don’t care what this was about. If it was about something someone said, or that girl that can’t fake cry to save her life, but whatever it is, isn’t being settled here. If you want to fight, leave and become the City Guard’s problem.”

That seemed to wake the boys up as they both straightened up. The girl stopped fake crying as soon as Lu Ten called her out and was now glaring at him, though his last comment had even her frightened. Fighting in a bar wouldn’t get them into too much trouble but fighting on the street could bring even the Dai Li down on them.  
“Your choice,” Lu Ten said, “but I’d suggest going home.”

The one boy took off, the girl following him. With them both gone, Lu Ten released the last, who picked up his shoe from the floor and ran off as well.

“You need to watch them better,” Lu Ten said to his boss. “You can’t give alcohol to kids.”

“Their parents need to raise them better,” Lu Ten’s boss replied.

Lu Ten rolled his eyes before moving back to his post.

He counted himself lucky the rest of his shift went easy, but he should have known that meant he would be followed home.

Maybe it was stupid, and Lu Ten would soon come to regret doing it, but as he slipped into his house, he turned around and waved to the rooftop across from their home.

When he reached his bed, he found Iroh curled up to Mako’s back. Mako was laying on the very edge of the bed nearly sliding off the side. Lu Ten slid Mako away from the edge before crawling into bed on Iroh’s other side.

He fell asleep easily, not even waking when Mako and Iroh left.

Instead he woke up on his own at noon. There was a shopping list on the counter next to the meal Iroh had made for him. Lu Ten heated the soup in his hands as he read over the list.

Lu Ten hated shopping but if he didn’t do it, then Iroh would get irritated. Mako and him got home too late to really bother shopping, particularly with their new nighttime visitors watching them. So, Lu Ten often got stuck doing it.

Over the few days of being watched, Lu Ten had only rarely felt the stares of the Dai Li on him during the day. Mako claimed they never followed him during the day, but Iroh said they were constantly present for him. Lu Ten supposed it was due to the fact that Lu Ten mostly slept during the day and Mako was where the City Guards could keep an eye on him.

Lu Ten really did hate that small fact.

It was at least a short list that Iroh had left. There were only a few vegetables on it and a cut of meat. They could all be located in relatively the same place. 

Lu Ten was grateful the list was so short, as he felt the eyes of his non-Dai Li watcher on him the entire time he was walking through the shops.

Lu Ten was going to leave it and head home but an opportunity presented itself as the man ducked into a small side street.

Lu Ten paused for a moment before leaving the main street. He hoped he wasn’t walking into a trap as he turned the corner to his left and slammed the man against the wall. He pinned him there with an arm across his collarbones.

“What do you want?” Lu Ten asked.

“Nothing,” the man replied. “What do you mean?”

“You’ve been following me, why?” Lu Ten asked.

The man looked around. “I haven’t,” he said. “I’m patrolling the area.”

“So, you’re a guard?” Lu Ten asked. “Why are you following me?”

“I can’t tell you,” the man whispered, glancing above them. The Dai Li weren’t there, Lu Ten already knew that.

“Then who are you?” Lu Ten asked. “Are you the one leaving messages on my door?”

The man looked away even as he denied the accusation.

“What do the City Guard and the Dai Li want with us?” Lu Ten demanded, putting a bit more pressure on where he held the man. “Do you know?”

“No,” the man said quickly. He still wouldn’t look at Lu Ten.

Lu Ten pressed even harder and the man reached up to pull his arm away. Lu Ten batted his hand away and forced his head to turn towards Lu Ten.

“Do you know?” Lu Ten asked, emphasizing each word.

“You’re going to get me killed,” the man said. Lu Ten could hear the fear in the man’s voice as it trembled slightly on the words.

Lu Ten released him at that. “The Dai Li aren’t here,” Lu Ten said. “What do you know?”

“Not much,” the man said truthfully. “I’m Junji, Mako’s partner. All I know is Captain Lo said you should be dead and for me to watch Mako closely and keep him out of trouble.”

“I’m not Mako,” Lu Ten said.

“Well, no,” Junji said, “but you’re the one they are after.”

“Why?” Lu Ten asked.

“I don’t know,” Junji said, panic lacing his voice. “Captain Lo just said you should be dead and that you aren’t. That’s the best I can give you. If the Dai Li wanted you dead and you lived, I think that’s pretty clear cut why they want you.”

“You know what,” Lu Ten said, realizing just how panicked this conversation was making the other man, “just go, and stop following me.” 

The man made no such promise and moved to slip away into the busy main street. He paused at the entrance.

“I don’t think Captain Lo knows about the Sons of Agni. I barely figured it out myself. If he does, I don’t think he’ll do anything with that information. He likes Mako, even if he hates you,” Junji said. “I have no clue about what the Dai Li know.”

Junij left quickly after that, still watching the roofs of buildings for dark green robes.

Lu Ten bit his lip as he watched the man go.

Lu Ten had no clue what to make of the interaction. 

Lu Ten didn’t know this man, and was having to take him at his words with little to no character testament, other than Mako who found him okay if slightly awkward. After his own interaction with the man, Lu Ten could very much agree, the man wasn’t the best with social interaction. Though admittedly, Lu Ten had slammed him into a wall.

All Junji really did was echo what his notes said. He didn’t seem to have any new information. Though his mention of Captain Lo was odd. Lu Ten tried to dig into why the man was familiar but nothing obvious came, at least not from his memories. His intuition on the other hand, told him exactly who the man was.

Lu Ten hoped his suspicions were wrong, because otherwise his boyfriend was working for Lu Ten’s would be assassin.

A weight settled into Lu Ten’s stomach. He was really beginning to hate Mako’s new job. All it seemed to do was bring trouble down on them, but Mako was right. They needed someone on the inside to watch.

Lu Ten hated watching and he knew Mako did too. The only one not seeming to go stir crazy with nothing to do was Iroh. Iroh seemingly thrived in the calm before the storm, though Lu Ten had yet to figure out why.

Lu Ten just hoped watching didn’t get Mako hurt. If Captain Lo was the one who tried to kill him all those years ago, Lu Ten was even more scared as to what the man would do now. He didn’t want Mako caught in the crossfire, even if Junji seemed to think Mako was safe from whatever was being planned.

Lu Ten placed the groceries on the counter and as he was putting them up, Mako returned home.

A kiss was placed on his beard as Mako joined him in placing the few things Iroh requested away.

“How was work?” Lu Ten asked.

“Weird,” Mako said. “Captain Lo called me into his office first thing to try and get me to work late today. I told him I couldn’t and he seemed mad about it, but there wasn’t anything he could do without causing a scene. Then Junji disappeared for like three hours without giving a reason. He didn’t even tell me he was leaving so I just wandered the neighborhood hoping I’d find my wayward partner. As if he wasn’t being annoying enough, Junji then tried to get me to stay late with him as well, then awkwardly tried to invite himself over to our house. Captain Lo is suspicious but Junji is just odd.”

“I can tell you where Junji was,” Lu Ten said. “He was following me through the market.”

Mako froze. “Why would he be doing that?” Mako asked. His eyes were narrowed. Mako always seemed to be looking for a reason why Junji might be dangerous. Something about the man put him on edge but Lu Ten didn’t really understand what it was.

“Don’t know considering Captain Lo told him to watch you and not me,” Lu Ten said. “He seemed to imply that Captain Lo was the one who told the Dai Li about us, or well about me. Junji seems of the opinion that Captain Lo doesn’t know we are the Sons of Agni, or if he does that’s not his concern. I have zero clue how Junji figured out about the Sons of Agni. I guess he overheard something at some point. He’s been watching the house.”

“But why not just talk to me?” Mako asked. “We were together all day until he disappeared and he said nothing.”

“He’s scared,” Lu Ten said, thinking back to how Junji had trembled even as he warned Lu Ten of the impending danger. Lu Ten wasn’t entirely sure, but something told him Junji wasn’t following him for more information. Something told him, Junji was trying to protect him, though Lu Ten couldn’t figure why. 

“I don’t think he meant to get into the middle of all this,” Lu Ten continued. “If he’s telling the truth, the poor guy was just trying to do the right thing without getting arrested himself. I kind of held him against a wall by the throat to get him to talk today.”

“You held him by the throat?” Mako asked. “I guess that explains why he skipped lunch and was jumpy the rest of the day. Can’t really blame him, you are kind of scary.”

Lu Ten laughed slightly and leaned against the counters. Mako leaned against him and Lu Ten hugged him tightly to his body.

“Oh, I’m scary, am I?” Lu Ten asked, biting Mako’s bottom lip.

“Very, very scary,” Mako joked, as he pulled back, “but in all seriousness, if I didn’t know you, I would be absolutely terrified to find myself alone with you in an alley.”

Lu Ten hummed and held Mako closer. Lu Ten didn’t really like that he looked intimidating to people, particularly because he never seemed able to intimidate the people he needed to. Actual scary people where rarely afraid of fake scary people. While Lu Ten was deadly in his own right, he never attacked unprompted.

“I’m worried,” Lu Ten said, laying his head on top of Mako’s. “Your job really scares me Mako, especially after what Junji said. If Captain Lo was so insistent you stay tonight, what did he have planned for you?”

“I know it scares you,” Mako said, squeezing him tighter. “I’m sorry. Had I known what it would stir up, I never would have considered their request. As for Captain Lo, I’ll keep my distance. If you think it would help, I won’t even go near him without Junji there as well.”

“No, don’t drag Junji further into this, we’ve scared him enough, and don’t worry about what happened. The Dai Li would have figured us out eventually,” Lu Ten said. “They have eyes and ears everywhere. I’ve just yet to figure out why they are so concerned with us.”

“It’s what we represent,” Mako said, absently. “I think they see us as representatives of the war or something. People know the Sons of Agni, even within these walls. With us here, it means the war is here and there is no war in Ba Sing Se.”

Lu Ten didn’t think that was the full picture, but he didn’t bother pushing the topic. Junji’s insistence that they wanted Lu Ten dead rang in his ears but Lu Ten selfishly didn’t wish to talk about the Dai Li anymore.

“I had another dream,” Mako said into the silence, before Lu Ten could redirect them.

“Another dream?” Lu Ten asked. “Oma?”

“Yes,” Mako said, burying his face into Lu Ten’s chest. “She didn’t say anything. She just looked sad. Whatever’s going to happen. It’s too late to stop it.”

“What do you mean?” Lu Ten asked.

“Oma only looks like that when I failed to stop whatever it was that was going to happen,” Mako said. “I didn’t fix it in time and I was trying so hard.”

“Hey,” Lu Ten said, pulling Mako’s face up to look at him. He gently rubbed his thumb over Mako’s cheeks. “Listen to me, Mako. It’s not your fault. Iroh and I didn’t fix anything either. I don’t think there was really even anything here to fix. Somethings just can’t be stopped. Do you understand me?”

Mako nodded. “I don’t want you getting hurt,” Mako said.

“Yeah,” Lu Ten said, wrapping himself around Mako, “I know, and I don’t want you, or Iroh, to get hurt either, but this is war Mako.”

“I’ve never really fought one before,” Mako said. “I’ve participated in battles but they were always quick and when the dust settled everything was fine. With this, the dust never settles, it just stirs up into something bigger.”

“I’m sorry, Mako,” Lu Ten said. “I can’t make it better.”

“It’s not your fault. Iroh and I didn’t make it better either,” Mako said, repeating Lu Ten’s words from earlier.

“Alright, smartass, let’s do something else to get our minds off things,” Lu Ten said, pulling Mako to the living area by his hand.

“Like what?” Mako asked, suggestively. He leaned in towards Lu Ten but Lu Ten push him back onto the sofa instead. Maybe it was a bit of revenge for when Mako pulled a similar stunt a few days ago, but Lu Ten also didn’t think they had time before he needed to leave.

“Something that won’t have me standing uncomfortably at work,” Lu Ten said, cutting off Mako’s train of thought before it could go anywhere.

Mako pouted slightly.

Lu Ten pulled out the Pai sho board Ki Ha had given Iroh and the two played a few games.

Lu Ten wished he had paid more attention to his father when they had played as Mako was unfairly good at the game. Lu Ten pouted as Mako won yet again by trapping Lu Ten’s last movable piece.

Mako went to reset the board but Lu Ten stopped him. He didn’t really wish to play anymore.

“How?” Lu Ten asked. “I don’t even understand half of the moves you are using to win.”

“My brother and I used to run Pai sho gambling rings for the Triple Treats,” Mako answered. “We had to know how to beat people. The only person I can’t beat is Asami.”

“I’m pretty sure you’re making up rules,” Lu Ten said. That had to be why Lu Ten kept loosing. He had learned the rules from his father but Mako kept confusing him during the games.

“Duh,” Mako said, “that’s how you play.”

“No, it’s not,” Lu Ten said, shocked that Mako admitted to cheating so easily. “Are you actually telling me you’ve been cheating this whole time? I knew that move you used last game wasn’t real!”

“Cheating is half the game,” Mako said, “and it is too real, as I clearly did it.”

“How is that fair?” Lu Ten asked. “You can’t make up rules randomly!”

“Being able to make up rules randomly is like the first rule of the game,” Mako insisted.

“You’re a cheater, I’m not playing with you anymore,” Lu Ten said.

Mako went to answer but was cut off as Iroh pushed through the door.

“Hey, so, I lost my job and got a new one within hours of each other,” Iroh opened with.

Lu Ten turned to Iroh in surprise, and a bit of confusion. Why did Iroh always come home with such random news?

“What? How did you lose the job at the tea shop?” Lu Ten asked. There was no way Iroh had been fired. He was too good at giving people what they wanted for that. Iroh made a good server because he could read a crowed like no one else Lu Ten knew.

“I quit when your dad and cousin did,” Iroh admitted. “Then there was this healer guy who recruited me to get his dad off his back or something. I’m not sure. I’ll see tomorrow.”

“Always an interesting time when we leave Ro alone,” Mako said.

“Ro does get into the strangest circumstances,” Lu Ten agreed as he stretched his sore back. It popped three times and Lu Ten nearly moaned. Playing Pai sho for hours wasn’t healthy for proper posture. 

Lu Ten leaned down one last time to plant a kiss on Mako’s lips. He felt Mako smile against his mouth and smiled back.

With everything bad going on around them, moments like this made Lu Ten feel indestructible. He had survived so much with Mako and Iroh at his side. They would survive this too.

“As if you two don’t,” Iroh said as Lu Ten walked from the house. He heard Mako’s soft laughter drifting through the door as they left.

Their Dai Li watchers were there. So was Lu Ten’s non-Dai Li watcher. Lu Ten wished he could say he was surprised but he really wasn’t.

They were silent for a moment before Lu Ten decided to check in with Iroh.

“Are you actually okay?” Lu Ten asked. “What happened with the tea shop?”

“Your dad got offered a shop in the Upper Ring,” Iroh replied. Lu Ten nodded slightly. He had forgotten about the tea shop, Iroh often mentioned that supposedly the Fire Nation royal family still owned in Ba Sing Se. “I couldn’t go with them and I hate Pao, but yes I’m fine. Are you?”

“No,” Lu Ten admitted. He didn’t know how to tell Iroh about everything he and Mako had discovered and hoped Mako could fill him in. “Mako and I have found some interesting information out today. I suppose he can tell you when you get home. I’m getting really worried here, I feel like whatever is going on is reaching a boiling point.”

“I feel it too,” Iroh said. “I was hoping to write it off as my imagination but if you’re coming to the same conclusion we may be in serious trouble.”

“I hate this,” Lu Ten whispered. He grabbed for Iroh’s hand, smiling slightly when Iroh didn’t pull back. He wasn’t sure what he would have done had Iroh pulled away. Lu Ten felt like a string about to snap. 

“We will make it to the other side,” Iroh said. “We always do.”

Lu Ten didn’t feel to reassured by that.

“Luck doesn’t last forever,” Lu Ten said.

“Good thing we’ve never operated on luck before,” Iroh said.

No, but they operated on other things that were, in Lu Ten’s opinion, just as bad.

“No,” Lu Ten muttered, “just occasional and conditional spiritual assistance.”

“Well, yes,” Iroh admitted, “but apparently Oma is already on it.”

Lu Ten sighed. “Personally, I feel that makes it worse,” Lu Ten said. Oma wasn’t helping, she was just making them worry. “They want something and eventually they are going to force the issue.”

Iroh said nothing until they reached the bar. Lu Ten took his silence as confirmation that he was right about where the spirits were going with their own plan. Lu Ten wondered slightly if they weren’t even now, planning on using this situation to their advantage.

“Do you want me to stay?” Iroh asked.

“No, you and Mako stayed late enough last time,” Lu Ten said. He didn’t need Iroh getting drunk again. “They aren’t stupid enough to grab me while I’m on the clock.”

Iroh nodded. He surprised Lu Ten by dropping a kiss on his mouth. It lingered, something Lu Ten wasn’t use to with Iroh. He figured Iroh was simply seeking his own form of comfort.

As Iroh walked off, Lu Ten felt a chill fall over the area.

He looked into the alleyway across from the bar and shook his head at the man he told to stop following him. Junji was going to get himself killed, if he kept lingering where the Dai Li were. He didn’t need Lu Ten’s help doing it.

Junji startled Lu Ten as he suddenly lunged forwards towards him. His eyes were wide with panic but at the last second, he slipped back into the alleyway, his eyes for once sharp with calculation.

Lu Ten turned to see what had caused the other man to panic and froze as he came face to face with a Dai Li agent.

Lu Ten stepped back slightly.

“You have been invited to Lake Laogi,” the agent said. “Do not resist.”

Lu Ten resisted. 

He went barreling down the street back towards his house. He knew it was a fruitless endeavor but he would have never forgiven himself if he hadn’t at least tried to make it.

A pair of rock cuffs latched over his wrists from behind and Lu Ten went rocking forward into the ground. His chin hit the pavement and Lu Ten counted himself lucky he didn’t bite through his tongue. 

He was harshly rolled over and another bit of rock covered his mouth as he gasped.

He looked up into the face of two Dai Li agents.

It happened quickly and before Lu Ten knew it, he was off the street and being shoved in the back of a wagon.

Lu Ten had no clue where he was being taken, but he knew it couldn’t be anywhere good.

His only hope was that Junji would grow a spine at some point tonight and help.

The wagon came to a stop and a blindfold was wrapped over Lu Ten’s eyes as he was lead down a flight of stairs.

Lu Ten could smell damp, moist dirt and felt his breathing pick up as he realized he was once again underground.

It felt like forever but Lu Ten was finally pushed into a chair.

“Welcome Prince Lu Ten, to Lake Laogi,” a voice said to his left. Lu Ten turned his head but with the blindfold he had no way of seeing who was speaking. “My name is Long Feng, head of the Dai Li. Years ago you escaped an assassination attempt lead by Captain Lo, but today, we will find a greater use for you. You and your rebels are not welcome within the city and you will be getting rid of them for us.”

The gag was removed from Lu Ten’s mouth, followed by the blindfold. Lu Ten blinked at the bright lantern in the middle of the room.

“Great,” Lu Ten said. “I’ll just go tell them we are leaving and we will be on our way out.”

“You misunderstand me your highness,” Long Feng said, his voice dripping with distain, “you will be getting rid of them and then yourself, permanently.”

Lu Ten felt a sinking dread. He didn’t know how they planned on making him do that but it couldn’t be anything good.

Long Feng stepped from the room and the lantern started swinging around another Dai Li member.

“There is no war in Ba Sing Se,” the man said in a monotone. “Therefore, the Sons of Agni must die. That duty falls to you.”

Lu Ten shook his head and tried to extinguish the flame but his head was too foggy. He felt dizzy, like he was floating through space, not entirely sure which way was up.

“There is no war in Ba Sing Se. Therefore, the Sons of Agni must die. That duty falls to you.”

“No,” Lu Ten muttered, still reaching for the flame. It slipped through his fingers like water. He couldn’t feel the heat of the flame and lost his concentration.

“There is no war in Ba Sing Se. Therefore, the Sons of Agni must die. That duty falls to you.”

Lu Ten’s breathing, which had been erratic since being dragged underground, settled and evened out.

“There is no war in Ba Sing Se. Therefore, the Sons of Agni must die. That duty falls to you.”

Lu Ten’s eyes dilated as he stared at the light.

“There is no war in Ba Sing Se. Therefore, the Sons of Agni must die. That duty falls to you.”

Lu Ten’s eyes slipped shut.

There was no war in Ba Sing Se.

The Sons of Agni must die.

That duty fell to him.

Lu Ten’s eyes shot back open.

The Sons of Agni must die.

That duty fell to him.

Lu Ten glared forwards towards the light with determination.

That duty fell to him.


	20. Lake Laogai - Mako

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mako and Iroh go searching for Lu Ten and find a lot more than they bargained for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: brainwashing and a lot of violence.

Mako woke slowly as light shined across his face through the window. He groaned and rolled over to curl up into Iroh’s back. His hand reaching over to rest on Iroh’s stomach as he buried his face in the other man’s neck.

“Turn off the sun,” Mako muttered into Iroh’s spine.

“What Mako said, Lu,” Iroh said, tangling his fingers with Mako’s. “Turn off the sun.”

Something about what Iroh said registered as wrong to Mako. He jolted awake fully and looked across the bed. Something didn’t feel right and it became alarmingly clear as soon as he opened his eyes.

“Where’s Lu Ten?” Mako asked. His frantic gaze meeting Iroh’s own panicked one.

“Shit,” Iroh said, launching up from the bed. He stumbled slightly, bracing himself against the bedside table. Mako figured he got up too quickly. “Get dressed and we will go look for him.”

Mako didn’t need to be told twice.

He nearly fell over several times trying to rush getting dressed but the two of them soon hit the streets, practically running towards Lu Ten’s job.

The bar was closed but Mako knew the owner lived just a bit down the street. The man would be mad that they woke him up this early but Mako couldn’t bring himself to care as he pounded on the door.

A woman answered it glaring harshly at them.

“Can I help you?” she asked. “There are people still sleeping at this hour you know.”

“We need to talk to your husband,” Mako said. His heart practically in his throat.

“He’s asleep,” she said.

“This is kind of an emergency,” Iroh said. “Our friend works for him and he never came home last night.”

“Maybe he went out with someone,” she suggested trying to shut the door on them.

“I’m his boyfriend,” Mako said, “I’m the only one he’d go out with.” He lost his patience at the implication and pushed the door open before striding into the house.

“So, sorry,” Iroh said, “but this really is a matter of life or death at this point. Lu would have come straight home.”

“Get out of my house!” she yelled.

The commotion they had stirred up had been enough to cause Lu Ten’s boss to wake up. He had a knife in his hand as he joined the group.

“Get out,” he repeated.

“Where’s Lu?” Mako asked. His heart was beating hard against his chest at this point. He felt like it might shatter into a million pieces at the wrong answer, and he with it. “He never came home.”

“Funny,” the man said, crossing his arms, “because he never came to work either.”

A staticky noise filled Mako’s ears as he fell back onto the couples’ couch.

“What?” Iroh asked, panic lacing his tone. “No, I dropped him off! We walked there together. He was just outside when I left. What do you mean he never showed up?”

“What I said,” the man said, softer this time. It seemed their panic had finally hit home as he realized his employee might actually be hurt. “I’m sorry, I can’t help you boys.”

“Shit,” Iroh said, weakly, rubbing his face. Mako had never seen him so flustered before. “I knew I shouldn’t have left him alone.”

Iroh’s voice broke on the last work and Mako felt like he couldn’t breathe properly.

“Does your friend need something?” he heard the woman ask distantly.

“Mako,” Iroh called, pressing his hand to Mako’s head before gently cupping his face. “Mako, can you hear me?”

Mako gasped like he had been drowning and only just found air. His breaths were erratic but at least he was breathing again. This couldn’t be happening. Why was it always Lu Ten?

“We need, we need to-to find him,” Mako said, his voice shaking too hard to be of much use.

“Yeah,” Iroh said, warping an arm under Mako’s arms and pulling him to his feet. “Let’s go. Sorry to bother you!”

The couple said nothing as Iroh practically dragged Mako from the house. Mako’s legs weren’t stable under him and Iroh ended up placing him down outside the bar.

“Mako,” Iroh said, kneeling down in front of him. “We aren’t going to find Lu of you can’t stand properly. Calm down and let’s figure this out. We can look around here for clues but I’m pretty confidant the Dai Li have him. We need to figure out where they took him.”

“Lake Laogai,” Mako said.

“Probably,” Iroh said. “Do you know where it is?”

Mako shrugged slightly. “Sort of?” Mako said. It had been so long since they saved Kai and the other airbenders. They hadn’t gone in the easy way either. “I can probably find a way in, anyway.”

“Do you want to look around here some more or regroup at the house?” Iroh asked.

“Home,” Mako said. “It’s time the Sons of Agni showed Ba Sing Se why you don’t mess with us.”

Iroh leaned back from him and Mako couldn’t blame him. He hadn’t even recognized his own voice. He had never heard it sound so deep and menacing before.

Iroh looked him over before his own expression hardened and he nodded.

It was Mako’s turn to lean back, having never seen such a dark look on Iroh’s face.

It was then that Mako realized just how far the two of them might need to go on this mission.

The trek home was silent with unspoken fears and anxieties taking up most of the room between him and Iroh. Not that there was much room to take up, considering how tightly Iroh was pressed to Mako’s side. Iroh had his arm wrapped around Mako’s waist, and was holding on like letting go would make Mako disappear too.

They made it home and the first thing Mako did was make a beeline for the chest they hid their Sons of Agni masks in. He tossed the blue one to Iroh, before pulling the green on over his own head.

The mask was a familiar weight at this point, one Mako was surprised to find he had missed. His heart settled for the first time since he had woken up this morning.  
He and Iroh were getting Lu Ten back if it was the last thing the Sons of Agni ever did.

Mako changed into something easier to fight in than his street clothes before making his way out to the main room.

Iroh was already there, strapping a knife to his wrist. Mako noted the water skins on his hips, something that had been missing since they entered the city. He also noticed Iroh’s necklace was back around his neck.

Mako’s heart warmed slightly at that. As odd as it sounded, the necklace made him feel better. Like there was an actual chance they would make it through this.  
He reached over as if in a trance and touched the necklace, Iroh’s hand wrapping around his as he did so.

“We’ll get him back,” Iroh said. “Even if we die doing so.”

It scared Mako how aligned his and Iroh’s thoughts were. This was a suicide mission and they both knew it. They were doing it anyway.

Mako jolted as someone pounded on their front door. Iroh slipped the knife from his wrist before placing his finger against his lip. Mako paused for a moment, waiting to see if the person would go away.

Iroh slipped towards the door as the pounding became more insistent.

“Please, open the door. I need to talk to you. We don’t have much time.”

Mako’s face furrowed in confusion. That sounded like Junji, but why would he be knocking on their door?

Mako watched as Iroh slowly raised his knife, gesturing for Mako to open the door. Mako kept low to the ground, prepared for whatever potential attack was awaiting them.

Mako snatched the door open, Junji nearly hitting him in the face as he went to knock again.

“Your friend was taken by the Dai Li,” Junji blurted out, once the door opened.

Mako felt his heart drop and before he could even think, he had Junji pinned to the wall.

Iroh slid his knife back up his sleeve, his face the perfect image of someone who wasn’t about to just kill Junji.

“Start talking,” Mako growled, “now.”

Junji tried to claw at his arm. “You and your boyfriend are really similar, please put me down,” Junji whispered.

“Mako, he can’t talk if you’re choking him,” Iroh said, pulling Mako back.

Junji took a deep breath, coughing and sputtering. He muttered something under his breath about Mako before launching into a story so odd, Mako wasn’t sure if it was true.

Apparently, Junji had overheard Captain Lo talking about Lu Ten once Mako left that first day. Who Captain Lo had been talking to, remained a mystery, as Junji had been too nervous to peer around the corner. He had learned that Captain Lo, back when he had been in the military, was one of the three Earth Kingdom soldiers in on the plot to kill Lu Ten. The deal was struck with Fire Lord Ozai and the General protecting the Inner Ring, according to what Junji overheard. 

Captain Lo had recognized him when he saw him with Mako when they met up for lunch.

Junji was then ordered to keep an eye on Mako. Instead Junji started watching Lu Ten and leaving notes on their door as he found more information. It was through watching them, that Junji learned they were the Sons of Agni. 

When he realized they were the Sons of Agni, Junji knew he had to protect them, as apparently, once upon a time, they had protected his family.

Junji claimed he often ran interference between the City Guard and the Dai Li. He didn’t think what the Dai Li was doing was right and would often scrape mentions of the war under the rug, so to speak. He didn’t really want to be a city guard but it was something he was good at even when he hated it. He did his best to keep the citizens safe, and he apparently wasn’t the only one who lied to the Dai Li on the regular, though he was the only one who got involved in their drama.

He hadn’t realized just how bad what he was getting involved with was until recently.

Junji had tried to keep a low profile, knowing he owed a life debt but being terrified of the situation he was finding himself dragged into. He got caught spying on Lu Ten by the Dai Li. He told them he had been tasked with watching Lu Ten, a lie he was luckily saved from when Captain Lo vouched for him.

Though that put Captain Lo’s suspicions on Junji.

It was after that, that Lu Ten had ran into him and Junji planned to stop following the other man.

Until right before they went to leave work.

Captain Lo had planned on keeping Mako behind at work. Apparently, the Dai Li had asked for him to hold Mako back. Junji assumed the plan had been to divide and conquer but with Mako choosing to go home, the plan had to be changed quickly.

The reason Junji had tried to keep Mako at work was because he wanted to drag Mako back out on patrol and explain what was going on, at least the best as Junji knew it. That also didn’t work which was why Junji tried to follow Mako home.

Mako slightly regretted ditching the man now, but apparently Junji had followed him home anyway.

When he saw Lu Ten and Iroh leave, Junji followed them to Lu Ten’s job.

Iroh returned home but Junji held back to watch Lu Ten a bit longer. Mako didn’t really like the blush that spread over Junji’s face at that admittance. Something told him Junji had reasons other than protection on the brain when he stayed behind. 

It worked in their favor though, as right as Junji was about to leave, figuring the plan the Dai Li had was blown and needed fixing, Lu Ten was kidnapped.

Junji had started to help Lu Ten but ultimately hung back. He claimed it would have done no good for them both to be taken.

“And what good does it do to have you here now?” Mako demanded, slightly irritated that Junji had left Lu Ten alone.

Junji glared at him. “I followed them,” Junji said. “Lu Ten was taken before even starting his shift. You think I walked around the city contemplating my existence this entire time? I followed them!”

Mako leaned back, having not expected the sharpness from the other. Junji had more bite to him than Mako first thought.

“Stop it,” Iroh said, pushing into the middle of the conversation. “Where’d they take him then?”

“There’s a small lake out in the agricultural district,” Junji said. “They carted him out there and pulled up this land bridge or something. There’s an opening at the end of it that they pulled him down. You can only get in with an earthbender. I wasn’t quick enough to slip in before they closed it back.”

“It’s probably best you didn’t follow him down there,” Iroh said, “you would have gotten stuck. Can you lead us there?”

Junji closed his eyes. “I was hoping you wouldn’t ask me that,” Junji said. He sighed before opening his eyes. There was a pleading look on his face that begged for this nightmare to end.

“Look, Junji,” Mako said, his voice soft. While Junji wasn’t his favorite person he knew this wasn’t an easy situation for the man to be in. “I get it, this isn’t what you sighed up for, but Lu Ten means the world to us. More than that Lu Ten is someone who can change the world. You don’t understand who they just took. We’re talking about a Fire Nation monarch here. If we defeat Ozai, he’s the one who’s supposed to take the throne. There’s a reason Captain Lo was sent to kill him. We need him, but more importantly we love him and we want him back.”

Junji bit his lip. He looked two seconds away from crying from the stress of everything.

“Please,” Iroh said, leaning forwards slightly and softening his features. Junji’s attention was caught and Mako had to wonder just how Iroh managed to peg people’s sexualities so well. Mako wouldn’t have guessed Junji was interested in men if he hadn’t hinted at a crush on Lu Ten but he was certainly being persuaded by Iroh’s dimples into helping.

Junji heisted slightly before nodding softly.

“Thank you, Junji,” Iroh said, smiling brightly at the other man.

Mako shook his head. Iroh knew exactly what strings to pull on who and that particular string wasn’t a fun one. It was completely unfair, and Mako would know, having been put under that trick several times before.

Iroh and Mako finished getting ready, Junji already as prepared as he could be with his swords at his side. Mako had yet to see the man use them and hoped he was good enough to be a help rather than a hinderance.

“Let’s go get Lu Ten’s dumbass back,” Iroh said, checking his waterskins one last time. “Lead the way, Junji.”

“Yep,” Junji said, jolting to attention. “I can do that.”

Mako rolled his eyes.

“What am I not pretty enough?” Mako asked, as the door swung shut behind him.

"Sorry?” Junji asked.

“You drool over my boyfriend and now you’re drooling over Ro, but you don’t think I’m pretty?” Mako asked.

“Um,” Junji said, turning his attention forward and picking up his pace.

“That’s a no,” Iroh joked, moving to catch up with the other man.

Mako huffed and followed.

It took them a while to pick through the Lower Ring without drawing the Dai Li’s attention, then they had to slip through the wall into the agricultural district.

Junji ducked down behind a house on the very edge of the wall, while Mako started tapping the wall here and there looking for a tunnel. He found one, a few feet away from where Junji was staring at the guard tower.

“There’s a blindside to this guard tower that we can sneak past but I have no clue how to get through the gate once we reach it, what do you guys th– what are you doing?” Junji asked, turning towards them.

Mako had knocked the wall closing the tunnel down and light was now bathing the alleyway they were standing in.

“If you want to sneak past the guard tower be my guest but Ro and I are going this way,” Mako said.

Junji looked between Mako and the hole in the wall before sighing. “Please tell me this was here before and you didn’t just drill a hole in the wall,” Junji said.

“It was already there,” Mako assured. “Earthbenders use them to smuggle people into the city.”

“Great,” Junji muttered. “Now I have to hide this from the Dai Li, too.”

Mako shrugged, not feeling any pity for the man. Junji was a good guy but something about him constantly rubbed him wrong and it wasn’t just the man’s interest in Lu Ten and Iroh. Okay, maybe it was but Mako still thought the man annoying.

Mako felt like it took forever to reach the lake and nearly sighed in relief as the water came into view.

They walked along the edge of the lake while Junji searched the water line.

“Here,” he said, coming to a stop, “I think it’s here.”

“You think?” Mako asked.

“Look, it was dark the first time I came here,” Junji said.

“It’s fine,” Iroh said. “It’s better than nothing. We really are grateful for your help.”

Mako grunted and felt out for the supposed land bridge. Junji was wrong, though not by enough for Mako to bother bringing it up. The bridge was about a half mile to their left.

Mako led them to it, dragging the tunnel to the surface.

“Let’s go,” Mako said. He paused and bowed in thanks to Junji. “Thank you, for helping us.”

“It was much appreciated,” Iroh said, smiling.

Mako rolled his eyes and dragged Iroh away from the other man. Junji would thank him for that later.

“Wait,” Junji called, looking up at the sky with dread. “I’m coming with you.”

“Junji, Ro’s just messing with you, he isn’t actually going to have sex with you,” Mako said, more than annoyed that they were stalling. “He just flirts with people a lot.”

“Hey,” Iroh called, not even slightly insulted but Mako’s insinuation. In fact, he seemed amused as he continued, “I might have. No, actually Mako’s right. I probably wouldn’t have but that doesn’t mean I’m not interested in other things.”

“What?” Junji asked, his voice squeaking on the end. “No, I’m not doing this for sex. I’m doing it because it’s the right thing to do, you weirdo. You saved my sister’s life, so I’m helping you save your boyfriend’s.”

“Fine,” Mako sighed, gesturing the two men in front of him. He ignored the way Junij said your boyfriend’s, as he had more important things to do than argue with the man who was crushing on his boyfriend over said crush.

Iroh went down first, followed by Junji and Mako took the rear so as to re-sink the bridge, least the Dai Li discover it open.

“Now where?” Mako asked.

“I didn’t make it this far,” Junji said.

“Well, looks like we are working off of luck and intuition,” Iroh said.

There were two paths, one leading off to the left and the other the right. Mako didn’t know which way to go and could already feel a helplessness rising in his chest when the lights on his left went out.

“Oma,” Mako said, sighing with relief as the spirit offered her assistance.

“Huh?” Junji asked.

“Nothing,” Mako replied. “This way.”

Mako lead them to the right.

When they came to the next intersection the path in front of them kept glowing while the other five went out. This pattern continued before Iroh pulled him to a stop.

“Mako, not to sound like a downer, but how are you making these calls?” Iroh asked. “There’s nothing different about one path from the other.”

“The lights aren’t glowing on the unimportant paths,” Mako said. “What do you mean nothings different?”

“Um,” Junji said, “pretty sure all the lights are still lit up.”

Mako looked ahead of him at the newest divided. One path was lit brightly and the other dimmed.

“You don’t see that?” Mako said.

“See what?” Junji asked.

“Oh,” Iroh said, seeming to catch on to what was happening. “Continue leading the way Mako. Don’t worry about it Junji. Trust me, you’re better off not knowing.”

“I’m beginning to understand that,” Junji muttered.

Mako lead them down the right tunnel and came to a halt as all the crystals in the area flared brightly before returning to normal.

Mako looked around but there were no more clues, nor was Lu Ten there.

“Mako?” Iroh said.

“The light show stopped,” Mako said. “Lu Ten’s here but I don’t see him.”

“Maybe he, ah,” Iroh called, falling froward onto his knees. He rolled onto his back, trying to put out the flames that had caught on his tunic.

Mako swirled around to see where the attack came from and saw Lu Ten standing across from them.

The relief that filled Mako’s heart nearly brought him to his knees but instead he launched forward drawing Lu Ten into a hug.

“You’re safe,” Mako said, though his relief only lasted so long. Mako choked as Lu Ten’s hand wrapped around his neck and the other man threw him to the ground.  
Mako’s head slammed to the floor hard enough to clack his teeth together.

“Lu Ten?” Mako asked, coughing harshly through his abused throat.

“The Sons of Agni are a threat to the peace of the Earth Kingdom. It is my duty to remove this treat,” Lu Ten said, stalking forward towards Mako.

Lu Ten flinched back slightly as an ice shard when slashing across his face.

“We need to run,” Iroh said, pulling on Mako’s arm.

“They brainwashed him,” Junji said. “There’s nothing you can do now.”

“No,” Mako said, tugging his arm from Iroh’s grip and standing.

Lu Ten growled and slung a fire ball towards them. It nearly hit Mako in the face and as much as Mako hated it he realized Iroh and Junji were right. They needed to regroup and think of a way to undo this, but it wasn’t happening here with Lu Ten trying to kill them.

“Okay,” Mako said, ducking the flame. “You’re right.”

Mako’s heart was beating harshly in his chest. They had to break the brainwashing, there was no way around it but Iroh wouldn’t be able to get close enough to do so, if Lu Ten’s goal was to kill them.

Mako pulled some stones from the ceiling and dropped them down in Lu Ten’s path. He didn’t want to hurt or bury the man but he needed the firebender to slow down. They reached a relatively open location before Lu Ten caught up to them.

“What?” Junji asked, gesturing towards where Aang and Jet of all people were fighting. “Who are they? How did they get down here?”

Mako was just as confused as Junji about that but with Lu Ten barreling down towards them, he didn’t have the time to consider it. Mako turned right in time for Lu Ten to tackled him. Mako managed to get his foot between them as they fell and kicked Lu Ten up and over himself.

“Ah,” a Dai Li agent said. “It appears to be my lucky day. All my problems seem to be solving themselves in one go.”

Iroh launched a water whip towards Lu Ten who kicked out with an arch of fire. Iroh slid under the arch and came up with his fist towards Lu Ten’s knee.

Lu Ten’s foot came back down and his balance failed. His leg went down. Iroh must have hit a pressure point as Lu Ten’s leg became all but useless.

Lu Ten grabbed Iroh by the hair and slammed his face into the ground. Iroh gasped as Lu Ten moved to do it a second time.

Mako stood to run towards them but before he could, the flat edge of Junji’s swords came down on the top of Lu Ten’s head.

Lu Ten crumbled to the ground on top of Iroh.

Mako move cautiously closer.

“You better not have given him a concussion,” Mako muttered.

“Are you actually kidding?” Junji asked. “I just saved Rozin’s life and you’re worried about Lu having a concussion? He was about to kill us!”

“He can’t make you do this,” Aang yelled, startling the group back into the issue at hand. “You're a Freedom Fighter!”

Jet seemed to go still at those words.

Mako looked around the room and his eyes locked on the Dai Li agent who seemed to be getting more and more irritated by the minute. This had been his doing, Mako was sure of it.

Mako’s vision blurred with anger. He kicked the ground with his foot, sending a shockwave through the ground towards the man. He hoped it launched the man off his feet as Mako moved slowly closer.

“Do it,” the man called. “Do it now!”

Jet launched one of his swords. It made it to the Dai Li agent at the same moment Mako’s shockwave did. The sword missed but the shockwave knocked the man off his feet.

The Dai Li agent struck back as soon as he gained his footing, and stuck Jet to the ground. Another rock fires in their direction but Mako was too sluggish to stop it before it slammed into Junji and knocked him back into a wall.

“You’ve chosen your own demise,” the agent said, disappearing through a pipe in the wall.

Mako took a deep breath as he dragged Lu Ten’s head into his lap. Iroh was already working on healing Junji.

“Lu Ten, baby,” Mako said, brushing his hair from his face. “Ro and I will make this better, I promise.”

Mako felt a tear slid down the side of his face as everything rushed into clarity at the same time. Lu Ten had nearly killed him and Iroh. Whoever this man Mako held in his arms was, it wasn’t the real Lu Ten. The man Mako loved more than anything was buried deep within his own brain. Mako could only hope Iroh could fix this.

Mako buried his face in Lu Ten chest.

A hand grabbed the back of his tunic.

“Mako we need to leave,” Iroh said.

Mako nodded, moving to grab Lu Ten. Iroh had Junji leaning heavily on him. Junji’s hand was tight against his waist.

The rest of Aang’s friends came barreling into the room.

Katara dropped to Jet’s side and moved to heal him.

“This isn’t good,” Katara said.

“You guys go and find Appa,” Smellerbee said. “We'll take care of Jet.”

Mako was surprised to find their names hadn’t faded over time. He supposed the small group of kids had left a lasting impression on him.

“We're not going to leave you,” Katara said.

“There's no time,” Longshot said, surprising everyone. “Just go. We'll take care of him. He's our leader.”

“Cute,” Iroh said, pushing the kids out of the way. “Whatever you came to do, finish it quickly. I’ll take care of him.”

Mako sighed. He understood Iroh’s need to heal the boy. Jet didn’t deserve this fate, but that didn’t stop Mako’s worry that they were about to get caught. Still looking down at the young man’s face, Mako knew he’d never forgive himself for not trying.

“It’s a lot of damage,” Katara said.

“And I’m a waterbending field medic,” Iroh said. “I can at least get him stable enough to get somewhere better. Go.”

Aang and his friends traded looks before reluctantly taking off.

Iroh frowned down at Jet, but kept his hands steady.

“Can’t heal bone,” Iroh said. “Junji, give me your tunic.”

“What, why?” Junji asked. 

“I need a wrap and you’re the only one with your shirt intact,” Iroh said.

Junji sighed but handed over his shirt.

Iroh ripped it with little care for the fabric. He wrapped the cloth slowly around Jet’s ribs. He seemed to poke and prod as he went, though Mako wasn’t sure what he was looking for.

“That will have to do until we can get you some real medical attention,” Iroh said. “Until then, this might hurt.”

Jet yelled as Iroh pulled him to his feet. He waited until the young man had his bearing about him before leading the group from the room.

They were certainly a sight, and likely sitting ducks should anyone find them. Lu Ten was still out cold and slung over Mako’s back. He had long since gotten use to carrying the man, but that didn’t make Lu Ten any less of a pain in the ass to tote around. Junji was limping slightly and had a tight hold on his wrist. They had two teenagers with their hands free and Iroh lead the pack with his arms wrapped around Jet, who’s ribs were likely broken.

They shuffled along until they ran back into Aang and his friends.

“Long Feng has already moved Appa,” Aang yelled. 

“We are hoping we can catch them off,” Sokka added, as they ran past.

“Great,” Mako muttered, repositioning Lu Ten on his back.

“Is Jet okay?” Katara asked.

“For now,” Iroh replied.

“I’m getting put on a watch list after this aren’t I?” Junji asked.

“Probably,” Mako said, carelessly. If Junji had been completely honest from the start instead of playing mind games, maybe they wouldn’t be struggling so badly now. Mako knew it wasn’t a fair thought, but he didn’t care. He was mad at the world right now, and Junji was a convenient target to blame. Mako would feel bad over it later.

They were moving too slow, and soon there were Dai Li agents at their back, though the kids at the front didn’t seem to notice them.

The kids went barreling out towards the beach but the agents quickly split the two groups.

A few chased Aang and his friends up towards the surface while the rest surrounded the injured and their companions.

Mako backed up. He felt slightly helpless as he looked around at their group.

“Anyone have a plan?” Iroh asked.

More and More Dai Li poured into the area and Mako finally realized how serious this was. The Dai Li wanted Lu Ten dead. They wanted the Sons of Agni dead. Without drastic action they weren’t making it from this tunnel.

_If you need me, call on me, and Mako, you will need me._

The words echoed in his head and Mako knew, there was no way to make it out of this without some sort of interference. If spiritual interference was all he had, then it’s what he’d use, no matter the cost.

“Oma,” Mako whispered as rock cuffs wrapped around Smellerbee, Junji and Longshot. “Help me.”

There was no reply. Junji slammed face first into the ground, though Longshot and Smellerbee had softer landings.

“Please, Oma,” Mako said. “Whatever it takes, please.”

“Whatever it takes?” Oma whispered in his mind. “I’ll hold you to that.”

Mako’s mind went blank after that, and while he was very much still aware of what went on, of Lu Ten hitting the ground, of Iroh being pinned and Jet screaming as he lost his support and hit the floor, he had no control of his body.

Oma was in charge now.

Mako had never felt something so bizarre in his life. He wondered if this was how Korra felt in the Avatar State but she at least seemed to have some control over what happened. Here, Mako was just a spectator to what a spirit did to his body.

It was as he watched the absolute destruction of the area around him, that Mako recalled that the mountain Omashu was built on, had been created by Oma when she forced the war between her and Shu’s people to a stop. He could certainly she how she could have made an entire mountain on her own. He wondered if she had been this powerful as a mortal.

The walls started shaking and the ground splintered and cracked, though under the group laid out around Mako, the ground held still. Cracks formed up the walls and rocks tumbled down, though none struck the group.

The Dai Li who hadn’t been crushed were scattering. Some tried to run up the stairs towards the exit but those soon crumbled under Oma’s direction. Others ran deeper into the headquarters, though Oma didn’t seem so concerned about them.

Mako realized with horror what it was Oma was doing, as water started rushing through the gaps in the rock.

She was collapsing the whole structure down on top of them. 

They were going to drown.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What a time to remember that La nearly drowned the entire Fire Nation navy because of one single Fire Nation soldier.


	21. Going to Ground - Iroh

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Iroh gets tricked by La and Lu Ten falls ill.

Jet was a near deadweight against Iroh’s side. He kept his arm firmly around the boy, hoping he’d be okay. Jet’s ribs were broken, and one had nearly taken his lung with it. Iroh had him patched up as best he could, but Jet needed a normal healer. With bone injuries, waterbending healers were all but useless. There was only so much that could be done at a time. It would take days to heal it that they didn’t have down here.

They had caught back up with Aang and his friends but the Dai Li agents on their tail told Iroh they weren’t going to make it.

Sure enough, Aang and his friends slipped from the headquarters while the rest of them were surrounded by the Dai Li.

“Anyone have a plan?” Iroh asked desperately, turning slightly towards Mako. Mako’s eyes were empty and glazed. Iroh cursed slightly to himself as more Dai Li joined them.

Taking stock of their team did nothing. There were two healthy teens, one injured teen, two injured adults, a dazed Mako who might have a concussion, and Iroh.  
This wasn’t good.

Rock cuffs launched from the surrounding Dai Li agents. They wrapped up the kids that were with Jet, it took Iroh a moment to recall their names, Smellerbee and Longshot. The second attack took out Junji.

Iroh was so focused on trying to find a way out that he missed the rock gloves flying towards him at first. Ducking them had been a mistake as the gloves slammed into his temple and sent Iroh sprawling over the ground.

Iroh’s vision went slightly blurry but he could still make out the vague shapes of people.

Jet hit the ground with him and let out a bloodcurdling scream. Iroh hoped the kid’s ribs didn’t take any more damage from it.

A bright light shone to Iroh’s left and he turned, watching as Mako’s eyes glowed in a manner frighteningly similar to the Avatar’s though duller. Iroh supposed Oma wasn’t nearly as powerful as the World Spirit.

Lu Ten’s body slipped from Mako’s grasp and fell to the floor.

Iroh’s ears started ringing.

Iroh gasped as he looked up, the roof of the tunnel was breaking to pieces, large chunks falling and barely missing the group huddled in the center of the Dai Li. The Dai Li however, weren’t so lucky and were crushed under the falling debris.

Iroh looked over to Mako, or rather Oma, Makoma, he wasn’t really sure. Whoever had control of Mako’s body seemed very interested in bringing the whole headquarters down on them.

Mako’s image blurred before his eyes and when Iroh reached up to steady his dizziness, blood pooled in his hand. The ringing turned to buzzing and the blurred vision turned to black.

The last thing Iroh saw was water rushing into the underground tunnel system.

He woke up in the spirit oasis. A hand was running through his hair as a soft voice hummed a lullaby Iroh was familiar with from his childhood.

“You’re awake.”

The voice was melodic. Very refined and kind sounding.

Iroh’s eyes darted to the source. He couldn’t say he was totally surprised to find Yue the one holding him, though he had expected to meet La.

“I wanted to see you,” Yue said. “La mentions you a lot. He has plans for you, much like Tui had plans for me. You’re dying.”

“I usually am,” Iroh replied, sitting up.

His head spun and reaching up showed blood still pouring down his face.

“La has a deal for you,” Yue said. “I’m sorry things happened like this. Good luck.”

Iroh glanced towards Yue but the young woman had disappeared. In her place was a man, or a fish, or something in between. His skin, or rather his scales, were a deep dark blue, nearly black. His face was an odd combination of human and fish. Looking at it made Iroh feel dizzy.

“You die too much,” was the only thing the spirit said.

“I don’t mean to,” Iroh said.

“Of course, you don’t,” La said. “Humans never do.”

“Yue said you have a deal for me,” Iroh said. “I assume it’s more of the same.”

“Right now, Oma is tearing the Dai Li headquarters to the ground,” La said, matter of factly. Iroh wasn’t reassured with how little emotion was in his voice. La didn’t seem to actually care. “It’s under a lake and if someone doesn’t stop the water, it will fill every crevice of the underground chambers, taking everyone, you and your friends, with it.”

“Why would she do that?” Iroh said. “I thought she was helping us?”

“She is,” La said, “but she’s also helping Agni and myself. You need me to stop the flood she’s created and I need your help protecting the Spirit World.”

“You said we had a choice,” Iroh accused, anger entering his tone and turning his words sharp. “Now we don’t.”

“You do still have a choice,” La said. “Mako could let everyone he loved die and get capture, or he could help Oma and gain her favor to save them. Now your choice is simple. Die, or gain my favor and live.”

“Not much of a choice,” Iroh complained.

“But still a choice,” La said, leaning closer to Iroh. He wiped his hand or fin thing across Iroh’s forehead. “You cracked your skull. I can fix that and the flooding but it won’t be for nothing. Well, Rozin?”

“That’s not my name,” Iroh said.

“It’s the name I gave you,” La said. “Whether you know it or not.”

Iroh closed his eyes and gave in. Oma had tricked and trapped Mako and now La had done the same to Iroh. They couldn’t die, not like this, and without La they would.

“Save them, please,” Iroh said.

“Why?” La whispered in his ear.

“Because,” Iroh said, licking his lips and tasting the blood that dripped down his face, “I’ll do what you want if you do so.”

“An open promise,” La said. “Quite foolish, but it will do.”

For a second, Iroh thought La was about to kiss him, but instead the spirit grabbed Iroh by his underarms and launched him into the oasis. Iroh hit the surface of the water and it shattered like glass.

Iroh felt like he was drifting underwater even as he jerked awake.

Mako’s eyes were still glowing and the water level was starting to rise above Lu Ten’s face. If Iroh, or La, didn’t do something soon, Lu Ten would be the first to drown, laid out on his back.

The Dai Li agents were long gone, having been crushed and scattered by whatever Oma was doing.

La lifted them to their feet and pulled the falling water up and over them until a bubble formed around them. The air pocket formed just in time as Oma brought the ceiling down and with it came a rush of water that was sucked into the bowels of the Dai Li headquarters.

Iroh sent a slight prayer to any poor lost souls who were still down there. A chuckle sounded through Iroh’s chest and Iroh realized with a jolt that La was laughing. He thought Iroh’s prayer was funny. If Iroh had control of his body he would have ground his teeth, as it was his body was currently, somehow, playing host to La.

Iroh took in his surroundings, with nothing else to really do.

Junji was staring between Iroh and Mako in absolute shock and fear. The kids that had come with Jet had their eyes wide. The girl’s jaw was nearly touching the floor.  
Lu Ten stirred enough to turn his head but his eyes stayed shut and Jet looked to be having a religious experience as he laid sprawled on his back.

The bright white faded from Mako’s eyes and the man hit the ground, though he luckily remained awake. Oma must have collapsed the entire tunnel system then.  
Mako was looking around himself in shock but Iroh wasn’t able to reassure him.

The water level was sinking rapidly, with La helping it along down into the tunnels that remained. Before long the air bubble wasn’t needed as the water slowly dropped from above their head to not even ankle deep. The water bubble surrounding them slowly receded and soon the group was sitting in the shallows where there was once a fairly deep lake. All the water had drained into the underground tunnels.

The lake had shrunk to nearly half its size, though it was undoubtedly deeper at its new center.

Iroh blinked in shock as he slowly regained control of his body.

Who did Oma and La just make them kill?

There was no way Iroh could even pretend the only people down there had been Dai Li agents. Even if it had only been Dai Li agents, Iroh hadn’t wanted to kill them.

Iroh felt bile form in his throat and swallowed it harshly. He wasn’t going to throw up. He would do that later in the comfort of his own home where he could break down without being surrounded by people he barely knew.

“What the fuck?” Junji yelled. “Who are you people? What the fuck?”

Iroh swallowed dryly and reached up to his forehead. The blood was gone, as if it had never been there to begin with. There wasn’t even a scar where his head had hit.

Iroh traded a heavy look with Mako.

“We just killed, so many people,” Mako just whispered.

“No,” Iroh said. “That wasn’t us.”

“We agreed to it,” Mako snapped.

Iroh hung his head. They had agreed to it, but it wasn’t exactly uncoerced agreement. That didn’t make him feel any better. Iroh looked to the shoreline, or rather what was once the shoreline.

Aang and his friends were staring at the lake in shock, Dai Li agents who survived also paused along the banks unsure of what to do.

Appa had Long Feng pinned to the ground.

“Well,” Iroh said. “What do we do now?”

“I’ll tell you what I’m doing now,” Junji said. “I’m going home and I’m never speaking to any of you ever again.”

“Your ankle is broken,” Iroh said, slightly concerned.

“It can stay broken,” Junji said, trying to stand under his own power.

“Look, we need healers,” Iroh said. “Non-waterbending healers as I can’t fix bone easily. Just stick with us long enough to get to a healer and we won’t say a word to you ever again, okay?”

Junji started crying at that, and Iroh couldn’t really blame him. He wanted to cry too as he looked out over the decimated lake.

What had he and Mako actually just agreed to? Iroh thought it was just helping preserve the world’s spirituality, but Oma and La had used them as if they were vessels. Iroh wondered if that was what being the Avatar felt like.

“Let’s go,” Mako said, finally seeming to shake himself of the numbness in his eyes. He lifted Lu Ten back over his shoulder.

Iroh moved towards Jet, but the boy shuffled back as best he could.

Iroh nodded.

“Someone needs to help Jet walk,” Iroh said, turning away from the boy. He offered his hand to Junji instead. Junji seemed to steel himself before grabbing Iroh’s hand and letting himself be pulled to his feet.

“I don’t want to date you anymore,” Junji said.

“I don’t date people in the traditional manner anyway,” Iroh said. “Probably for the best.”

“What,” Junji said, pausing as if debating even asking, “what just happened?”

“Junji, do yourself a favor and never get yourself tangled up with spirits,” Iroh warned.

“I’m never getting myself tangled up with anything ever again,” Junji said. “I quit. I don’t even care if I can’t find another job when I do so, I’m so scared of what just happened.”

“That makes two of us,” Iroh muttered, slowly helping the other man to the old shoreline.

No one there seemed to know what to do now that the entirety of the headquarters was gone.

“We’re taking them to a medical ward,” Iroh said once they reached Aang and his friends. “You guys go ahead and take everything that happened here to the Earth King. Don’t worry about us.”

“You just,” Aang stuttered. “There were people down there!”

“The Joo Dee’s,” Katara said. “They were down there being brainwashed like Jet.”

Iroh closed his eyes.

“I didn’t,” Iroh said, “I didn’t mean too. We didn’t know that would happen. It was an accident.”

“We were surrounded,” Mako said, “and desperate. The walls started crumbling and water started leaking in. There was no way to stop what happened. It was too late to stop what happened. Ro and I were tricked.”

“By what,” the girl from Jet’s freedom fighters asked. “There was nothing down there other than Dai Li agents.”

“You wouldn’t believe us,” Mako said.

“Try me,” Sokka demanded.

Iroh and Mako traded looks.

“Mako and I,” Iroh said, “we’ve been getting spirit visions from Oma and La for a while now. We don’t know exactly what they want from us, but they’ve been trying to get us to agree to whatever it is, without ever fully explaining what they need from us. Without knowing in full what’s expected, Mako and I weren’t agreeing. They backed us into a corner down there. Oma agreed to help Mako and brought the structure down but it flooded the area. La agreed to help me, but he only saved us.”

Iroh gestured at the people surrounding him.

“Spirits, they don’t always get things the same way humans do,” Iroh continued. “To La and Oma, those ah, Joo Dee’s weren’t important to us, because we didn’t know them like we did the others, so they didn’t protect them. Mako and I, we never would have done those things ourselves.”

“You expect us to believe you were possessed by spirits,” Sokka asked.

“I don’t expect you to believe anything. I’m telling you what happened,” Iroh said, slightly irritated, “do with it what you will.”

“He’s telling the truth,” Toph said. “I think, his heart beat is up but so is everyone else’s after what happened.”

“I believe them,” Aang said, softly. “I’ve seen the type of damage La deals out, and after meeting Koh, well, not all spirits want what’s best for humans. I just don’t know what they would want with two random men, no offense.”

“None taken, we’d like for them to leave us alone too,” Mako said. “Now, if you’ll excuse us, we have a lot of ground to cover.”

“Oh,” Aang said, “we can drop you off some place. Do you know where you’re going?”

Mako stalled and Iroh realized they didn’t know any healer locations. They’d never needed one before with Iroh around.

Iroh racked his brain before a soft boyish face appeared before his eyes. “Biju,” Iroh said. “There’s a medical ward at the end of the street where Pao’s tea shop is. Biju works there, he was going to hire me. I suppose they wouldn’t be too mad that we brought them business.”

Mako sighed. “This is going to cost us all our money, isn’t it?” Mako asked.

“Well, at the very least Junji’s medical bill is our responsibility,” Iroh said.

Junji snorted. “Fucking right,” Junji said.

Iroh sighed, really hating that they had traumatized Junji enough that he now hated them. He was worried they had traumatized the whole group enough that they now hated them.

Iroh helped Junji onto the bison before helping Mako drag Lu Ten’s still knocked out body onto the bison. Iroh then tried to once again help Jet but stepped back with his hands up when the three teens tensed up.

“All right, first time flyers, hold on tight,” Aang said, as Appa took off. He seemed to be trying too hard to act like his normal self.

Iroh crawled towards the front slowly, well aware of the mistrustful stare Sokka was giving to him. He directed Aang down towards the lower ring and had him land a bit away from the medical ward.

Iroh barely knew Biju at all and showing up on his doorstep would be odd enough without the flying bison and the Avatar.

Iroh walked towards the medical ward and knocked on the door.

Biju opened it.

“Hey,” Biju said, tucking a strand of hair behind his ear, “are you here for the job? You didn’t show up this morning.”

“Well, if you’re still hiring and don’t hate me after this, sure, but ah, I’m actually here because three of my, um, friends need medical attention,” Iroh said, smiling brightly.

“Don’t fall for that smile,” Junji warned. “He’s more trouble than he’s worth.”

“Hurtful,” Iroh muttered.

Biju stared at the ragtag group in front of him for a moment before healer instinct kicked in and he was helping Jet, who looked the worst, to a bed.

“Father,” Biju called. “We have new patients and one is an emergency situation!”

A man came rushing form the back room. Iroh supposed he was Biju’s father. They looked similar enough.

“Jet,” Iroh said, pointing to him as they laid him on the bed before pointing to Junji, “and Junji have broken bones. Waterbending won’t do much for them. I’ve got Lu, if you’ll allow me a bed to work on.”

“This the healer you told me about?” Biju’s father asked.

“Yes,” Biju replied, leading Iroh towards a free bed. Mako and Iroh dropped Lu Ten to the bed where the man groaned in pain.

Biju glanced at Lu Ten sprawled out randomly before moving to look over Junji who had sat himself in a corner.

“I know you’re probably going to get mad, but I need you to tether him to the ground,” Iroh said, turning to Mako. “If he wakes up and I haven’t finished he could try and kill us again.”

Mako bit his lip but nodded and pillars of earth reached up to surround Lu Ten’s arms and legs so they couldn’t move. Lu Ten would have a fit when he woke up but that was an issue for another time.

Iroh pulled water from the pitcher on the far side of the room, his waterskins having been emptied at some point during their adventure. He placed his hands on Lu Ten’s temples and closed his eyes.

He went ahead and fixed the easy part, which was Lu Ten’s concussion.

Working with the neurological pathways was hard and the only type of healing Iroh didn’t have any practice with at all, though the knowledge was there from Rozin’s memories. He worked slowly and delicately, but he was having an issue.

Iroh knew Lu Ten suffered from combat neurosis but he had no clue just how depressed Lu Ten actually was. The normal beats the pathway made weren’t syncing up in the proper manners that Rozin had memorized and Iroh had been trying to futilely heal them thinking it was part of the brainwashing. 

It took Iroh’s own knowledge from his original time to realize what might have been wrong. Rozin only knew the spots as wrong but irreparable through waterbending, but Iroh knew what was wrong from his own head. His Gran Gran had a very long talk with him after she healed him from a concussion that pulled him into a light coma. She had walked him through different treatments for anxiety and Iroh promised to try them. He never took any meds for it, least he get kicked out of the military over it, but he had managed to bring it mostly under his control.

He still occasionally has moments where his stomach rebelled against him and his hands shook so hard holding things became nearly impossible. He also still had moments where all he could do was lay down and sit through it. Mako had caught him at it once but had never said anything about it.

Maybe they should stop keeping things like that from each other.

At some point between now and Iroh’s time, healers would become more aware of what those wrong spots, as Rozin called them, were. Sadly, they still couldn’t heal them with waterbending, but at least they could diagnose them and heal them the old-fashioned way. 

When he realized what it actually was that he was trying to heal, Iroh pulled back.

“Did you fix it?” Mako asked.

Iroh shook his head.

“I need a moment,” he said, slipping from the building. He slid down the wall and dropped his head into his hands. Never in his life had he hated the limitations of waterbending before. Now there were two broken bones and depression that his healing abilities could do basically nothing for.

He swallowed the lump in his throat before standing. He needed to start actually healing Lu Ten but he took a moment to steel himself for diving back into Lu Ten’s mind rhythms.

“We need to wake him up,” Iroh said, as he walked back in.

“What?” Mako asked. “Why would we do that when you haven’t fixed him?”

“I think it’s going to have to be a team effort here,” Iroh said. “I can’t catch where the issue is when he’s asleep. I fixed his concussion so the only thing keeping him asleep at this point is himself. I want you to talk him through who we are and what we do as best you can. Your voice should have the most effect on him. I’m going to help him through it but Lu Ten’s going to have to do the thinking here.”

“Alright,” Mako said, slightly weary, “if you say so.”

Mako rubbed his hand over Lu Ten’s forehead. He dropped a kiss on the other man’s temple.

“Lu, baby,” Mako said, shaking him slightly, “you need to wake up. Come on, we need your help with something.”

Lu Ten’s arm twitched as if to push Mako away but got caught in the bindings Mako had made. That’s when he started panicking and jerked fully awake as he pulled harder.

“What?” Lu Ten asked. “No, stop, please.”

Lu Ten’s voice was hoarse as he tugged harder. Iroh wasn’t sure what Lu Ten thought was happening but it had the man terrified.

“Let me go,” Lu Ten begged, pulling so hard he started bleeding where the rock rubbed through the skin around his wrist.

“Lu, stop,” Mako said, placing a hand on his shoulder and pushing him back towards the bed. “You’re hurting yourself.”

“You,” Lu Ten said, fighting even harder. His eyes dilated until the golden iris nearly disappeared to the black of his pupil. Lu Ten growled lowly as he tugged harder, tearing the skin on his other wrist in the process. 

“Mako, start talking,” Iroh said, ignoring as the room’s attention turned to them. Iroh placed his hands on Lu Ten’s temples again. He had to snatch Lu Ten’s head around so the man couldn’t bite him like he was trying. 

This time he avoided diving into and actually trying to heal the neurological pathway and simply skimmed along it, keeping Lu Ten’s own thoughts going in whatever direction Lu Ten took them. The brainwashing would hopefully appear as a deviation to Lu Ten’s typical thoughts.

“Lu, I need you to listen to me,” Mako said. “You’re safe. The night before you were taken by the Dai Li. This morning Iroh and I pulled you out. The Dai Li made you think things that aren’t true. We aren’t a danger to this city. We aren’t the enemy. We’ve saved countless people across the Earth Kingdom and before this war ends, we will save countless more.”

Iroh twitched, trying not to think of those they had just killed. He didn’t think they had taken out more than twenty Dai Li agents but other people, like the Joo Dee’s Katara mentioned and other prisoners were gone and could have been in the hundreds.

Lu Ten fell still and Mako repeated what he said before, softer this time as Lu Ten blinked at him.

Iroh could feel the beats in Lu Ten’s head as they slowed down from the racing sensation. Lu Ten was no longer running on instinct. He was listening and engaging with what Mako was saying.

Mako started to repeat himself again as Lu Ten’s eyes darted up to Iroh’s face. His brow furrowed and Iroh felt an aggressive jolt racing through Lu Ten’s head before it evened back out under Mako’s words. Lu Ten’s mind still seemed a bit foggy but Iroh thought they might have pulled through whatever was going on.

“Mako?” Lu Ten asked, his voice far away and his eyes unfocused.

“Yes,” Mako said. “Come on Lu, you’ve got to break this yourself.”

Iroh bit his lip hard as Lu Ten’s mind seemed to go slightly haywire with thought once more before evening itself back out.

Lu Ten gasped.

“Mako!” Lu Ten shouted, trying to sit up but failing at the restraints. “What?”

Lu Ten frowned down at the earth surrounding his arms. “Why?” he asked. “Where am I?”

“We’re at a healer’s clinic,” Mako said, dragging Lu Ten’s attention to him. Iroh tensed but seeing Mako didn’t seem to set anything off. “You were attacking us so we had to pin you down.”

“I,” Lu Ten said, before pausing and spacing out, “I almost killed you.”

Iroh pulled back from Lu Ten’s head as the other man started crying.

“Hey, hey,” Iroh said. “It wasn’t your fault.”

The restraints around Lu Ten’s arms crumbled and Mako leaned forward to pull at listless Lu Ten towards himself. Lu Ten’s arms stayed limp at his side and his eyes glazed over.

“Don’t do that,” Iroh said, his voice more insistent, now that he knew how dark Lu Ten’s thoughts could become. “We are all safe now. None of us have been permanently damage. It’s fine.”

“Not to be the bearer of bad news but your friend Junji might not be so fine,” Biju said, interjecting. Junji was glaring at them slightly from behind the healer.  
“What?” Iroh asked, dread settling in his stomach. They hadn’t meant to get a civilian hurt.

“Ankles are hard to heal and well, he’s been walking on it,” Buji explained. “We can’t set it properly, so it’s going to heal wrong. He’s probably not going to be able to walk properly anymore.”

Lu Ten groaned. “Please tell me I didn’t break that man’s ankle,” Lu Ten said.

“You broke my ankle,” Junji deadpanned, “but the Dai Li broke your mind first and I was the idiot who decided following the Sons of Agni into battle was a good idea so, I’ll forgive you this once but you all owe me.”

“Shit,” Lu Ten said, covering his face and curling up into a ball.

Mako crawled into the bed with him and after a moment of hesitation, Iroh followed him. He had no idea what kind of chaos was running through Lu Ten’s mind but he knew it wasn’t good.

He squeezed both Mako and Lu Ten to him, as Lu Ten continued to cry.

Lu Ten continued to be silent throughout the rest of the day and the few things he did say indicated that his memories of events, both before, after and during his kidnapping, were foggy. He moved slower, when he finally moved to stand.

They had tried to explain everything that had happened, including what went down with Oma and La, but Iroh wasn’t sure how much was registered by the other man.

Iroh was only able to help clear up his mind a little. He couldn’t walk behind Lu Ten forever clearing his head. Whatever fog was left in Lu Ten’s brain was something he needed to work through and that proved to be the issue of the matter.

The morning after their adventure with the Dai Li, Lu Ten woke with a fever well over normal even for a firebender. Iroh kept trying to break it with wet cloths but Lu Ten remained asleep and overheated. Mako ended up wrapping himself around Lu Ten to help the man fight off the shivering that was racking his body.

Iroh tried healing him with waterbending once more but it soon became clear that this wasn’t something his mind was doing. His body was fighting himself. Iroh had only recalled one such incident from his family’s history and that was when his own grandfather had a crisis of faith.

Iroh was slightly worried as to what could be causing Lu Ten’s and what it might mean for the future of their trio.

It was with a start that Iroh realized his grandfather would be going through the same feverish fight at the same time. He was almost tempted to sneak into the Upper Ring and ask his great granduncle for advice on what to do, but drawing Dai Li attention so soon after escaping it wouldn’t go well.

Iroh startled as someone sat next to him. A crutch was leaned against his chair as Junji flopped down next to him.

Junji glanced at him blankly. “I’m staying here with Biju,” he said. “I need somewhere to lay low from the Dai Li now that I’ve been connected to you three. He’s allowing it.”

There was a soft smile on Junji’s face.

“Is it because he’s prettier than me?” Iroh joked.

It really was a shame that Junji had decided Iroh wasn’t worth it. While Iroh often used flirting as a means to an end, never really serious about the practice and usually only using it for relatively harmless reasons, he had been serious with Junji. Contrary to Mako’s temper tantrum the other day.

He had been particularly impressed with how the man didn’t leave them to the Dai Li’s mercies and stepped up to help when he really didn’t need to. 

Junji snorted. “No, he comes with less chaos,” Junji said. “I don’t think he’s interested in me like that. I’ve been told I fall into crushes too easy. Considering I’ve fallen in love five times and yet I have never been on a date that, just might be true. That or I keep falling in love with people who don’t like me. I just asked if I could hide here and he said yes, since they’d need to watch my ankle anyway.”

“I’m glad Biju’s taking care of you,” Iroh said. “I really am sorry you got caught up in our chaos and I know I’m the one of us you know the least and it might not mean much but thank you. Really, we would have died down there without you.”

Junji nodded. “The war is coming here, isn’t it,” Junji said.

“It’s already here,” Iroh replied. “It’s just a matter of when it all smashes together and people stop pretending.”

“Is he going to be okay,” Junji said, gesturing to where Lu Ten laid out on the bed. His brow was wet with sweat. “Shame if I nearly died to help you save him only for him to die of fever.”

“He’ll be okay,” Iroh assured. “We are about to go underground though. Maybe literally, but definitely into hiding. It’s not safe to be out here where the Dai Li can easily find us and we’ve dragged enough civilians into our drama.”

In fact, they were leaving as soon as Mako returned from their house with their stuff. They didn’t have the time to waste.

Junji nodded again but said nothing else. The two sat in silence for a while until Mako slid into the room.

“Ready?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’ll get Lu Ten and we can go,” Iroh said.

Mako nodded moving over to Jet’s bed. He stopped short when the other teens went tense.

“I know,” Mako said, holding his hands up in surrender, “but for what it’s worth, I’m proud of all three of you for turning over a new leaf. I know it won’t be easy but at least you’ll live. You kids stay safe and I’m sorry for every thing that happened.”

Jet frowned at him but said nothing. Longshot bowed his head and Smellerbee smiled slightly before looking away dismissively.

Mako nodded and went to stand by the door as Iroh woke up Lu Ten enough to get the man to ride piggyback.

“So that’s a no on working here,” Biju asked before Iroh could leave.

“Yeah, sorry,” Iroh said, having hoped he would have avoided the man. “I have other obligations that come first but I would have worked here, if things weren’t as crazy. That being said, whatever it is you want to do, that you’re scared to do because of your father, this might be the time to do it. The world’s about to get crazy.”  
“Alright, then,” Biju said, seemingly confused but what Iroh was talking about.

That was fine, Iroh did have more information than the others.

They slipped from the clinic and made their way towards the Middle Ring.

“There’s a small set of caves underground here,” Mako said. “I found them this morning when I went searching. They probably use to be part of the underground city but they seem to have gotten cut off and never reopened.”

“Whatever works,” Iroh said. “We just need somewhere for Lu Ten to get better without us getting hurt.”

“He’s going to hate this when he wakes up,” Mako said.

“I know,” Iroh replied, “but at this point we do what we can.”

Mako slipped underground and Iroh hesitated slightly before following him down.

Lu Ten didn’t wake up on his own for another two hours, after which he drank all their water.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not me shipping Biju and Junji in a world where Lu Ten isn't an option for them. They open a restaurant in the lower ring that is supplied by their own farm in the agricultural district after the war. The start up money for both was sent anonymously and while Biju's dream was a restaurant in the upper ring he decided to instead move to the agricultural district with Junji and the upper ring was too far.
> 
> Three more chapters left and the next one is a bit odd, so if you feel like you're reading the wrong story, keep reading it will make since.
> 
> So, once this story is complete, I am going on a month long hiatus before posting Desire. The first chapter of Desire will be posted on January 31st. Until then, I will actually have a lot more stories to share with you, including four more Lu Ten centric stories (one being an Earthbender Lu Ten fic and another a modern AU), two Mako centric stories (one being about a MtF Trans Mako), two Iroh II centric stories (one where Iroh is a non-bender turned airbender during Harmonic convergence), and three stories with Makroh (though two of those are actually WuMakroh). Not all will be ready to post before Desire but they will hopefully all be in the process of being written.
> 
> Hope you guys enjoyed!


	22. Fever Dream - Lu Ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lu Ten finally gets a spirit visit but it's not exactly how he expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Lu Ten has a very disorientating fever dream and then there's talk about how Lu Ten potentially wanting to be dead. It's not suicidal ideation so much as survivors guilt as to why he got to live when he was suppose to die.

Lu Ten could feel the sea breeze blowing through his hair as the ship approached his homeland. The Great Gates of Azulon gleamed in the light and Lu Ten felt like he could finally breathe easy. There was no wife to make demands and no kids begging for affection Lu Ten could never bring himself to give. There were only the familiar smells of home drifting towards him.

Lu Ten’s shoulders relaxed and he smiled freely for the first time in over a year. It was no coincidence that the last time he had smiled like this had been the last time he had come home.

The journey from New Caldera City, formerly the cursed city of Ba Sing Se, was a harsh one, but one Lu Ten was always willing to make. The return trip however was always a dark cloud that hung over the ends of his visits home. Lu Ten never wished to return to New Caldera City. He hated it there.

The ship docked in the royal family’s private harbor and a palanquin was waiting for him. Lu Ten barely stepped from the gangplank before he was sheltered within the palanquin. It wasn’t too far of a ride to the palace but Lu Ten was quite glad he didn’t have to walk the distance himself.

Watching the buildings of Caldera City go by made Lu Ten’s stomach clinch with homesickness. He missed overlooking those buildings from the palace walls and the smells of grilled fruit and smoked meats.

Back in New Caldera City there was rarely ever the smell of spice on the winds, something that was nearly overwhelming Lu Ten now that he was home. He smiled slightly as he heard the hustle and bustle outside his palanquin. He was tempted to peak his head through the curtains but knew seeing him would only rile up the citizens.

Lu Ten’s fame among the Fire Nation citizens had grown exponentially with his and his father’s victory over Ba Sing Se and rarely was he able to walk publicly through the streets of the Fire Nation or their colonies without mass attention drawn.

No one from the Fire Nation ever bothered to move to New Caldera City outside of business ventures, so the only people Lu Ten had from back home were business men and the few military men who had stayed once the city was conquered. It was an isolating experience, as even when Fire Nation culture and ideals were brought to the city, the Earth Kingdom cultures remained dominant.

Lu Ten never really bothered with New Caldera City, letting his wife, a noble Earth Kingdom woman, run it instead. His father had never complained, so Lu Ten figured the man didn’t care.

The palanquin came to a stop inside the gates of the palace and when Lu Ten exited he was met by one of the palace servants.

“Governor Lu Ten,” the servant said, bowing lowly towards the ground, “your father is expecting you in the throne room.”

“Thank you,” Lu Ten replied, “I shall make my way there shortly.”

His voice was softer than he recalled it being. Lu Ten hadn’t heard his voice come out that clearly in nearly five years when he had burned his throat raw. Lu Ten paused, had he ever burned his throat? He must have. It sounded right anyway.

He shook himself of the thought and headed into the palace.

Lu Ten wandered through the halls of the Palace in the vague direction of his father’s throne room. He was in no hurry, whatever he was expected for would wait for him, or someone would come get him to hurry him along. 

Lu Ten wouldn’t admit that he was avoiding the throne room for as long as he could. He loved his father and wanted to see the man again more than anything, but there had been an undeniable rift forming between them since Lu Ten’s appointment to New Caldera City that had only gotten worse upon Fire Lord Azulon’s death.

Lu Ten stopped walking as a giggling sound rung out behind him. The giggling paused and Lu Ten held still in the hopes to pin point it when it returned.

The giggling didn’t return but an argument between a man and a woman could be heard echoing through the halls. Lu Ten gave up on the giggling and decided to mind his own business when it came to the argument.

He continued on towards the throne room feeling his chest getting tighter as he got closer and closer to the imposing doors.

The portraits on the wall were wrong, but Lu Ten couldn’t place why. His father’s portrait featured prominently with a dragon under foot and the wall of Ba Sing Se collapsed around it. His father’s accomplishments laid out for the world to see. 

His grandfather’s portrait was similar, though slightly less glamorous as the man had very few great accomplishments in his life. All that really featured in his portrait was another dragon as the dragon hunts had started with him and a list of battles held aloft in his hand. 

Of course, his great-grandfather’s portrait had the comet soaring overhead and hung with great importance from the wall.

No, Lu Ten knew there was something wrong with the image but not what.

Lu Ten wonder vaguely what his own portrait would look like and if he would ever live up to such an imposing legacy.

Probably not. Lu Ten wouldn’t rule long, not so long as his father’s health stayed. It would be his own son, now four who would rule. Lu Ten wondered how that might work, with the boy having been raised in what remained of the Earth Kingdom. New Caldera City could call itself Fire Nation but it wasn’t, not really.

If it was, Lu Ten might not be as lonely.

The giggling returned, louder this time, as Lu Ten stared at the fake comet. It looked real, as if it was bearing down on him but that made no sense. The comet had passed three years ago.

Lu Ten tilted his head. No, it would pass at the end of summer. Lu Ten shook himself as his confusion rose and the giggling got even louder.

He turned, but again there was no source for the giggling.

Lu Ten continued on towards the throne room, the argument getting louder and louder as well.

Lu Ten pushed the doors open and stepped into the room. The giggling stopped. So did the argument. The room had been thrown into compete silence even with an entire war council inside.

“Lu Ten,” his father said, “please take a seat my son, you have travelled very far to join us. New Caldera City isn’t exactly close.”

“It’s certainly been a journey,” Lu Ten heard himself say as he sat at the council table. 

“And your family, how are they?” his father asked.

“As healthy and happy as can be,” Lu Ten said. Lu Ten was lying through his teeth, or maybe he wasn’t. Lu Ten never spent enough time around his family to know whether they were healthy or happy. He didn’t care to.

“That is good to hear,” his father said, “I am very glad to hear you have settled into life there and to think, you thought it would be the end of the world when I first told you about it.”

Lu Ten laughed, but it sounded hallow in the hall. He wished more than anything he had continued to fight the plan to send him to New Caldera City, but he had been so scared of losing his spot in the line of succession he had agreed. It had been the end of the world, at least the end of Lu Ten’s.

The time for pleasantries ended and the war council launched into discussion.

Lu Ten didn’t hear any of the words spoken but he could clearly get the gist of what was being planned. Earth Kingdom rebels were building up for an attack on a prison compound but the Generals didn’t know what was being planned in order to counter it. As Lu Ten looked over the set up on the table he realized exactly what plan was in action.

“They are going to infiltrate the ship,” Lu Ten said. “Slip in under the cover of the night. That particular dock has rocks that stick up from the area, making it hard to maneuver in the dark, meaning more often than not, ships have to stay the night if they can’t leave by sun down. They can slip in silently if they have waterbenders at their back, which they likely will considering how riled up the swampbenders are.”

Lu Ten paused at that, slightly confused. He wasn’t sure what they had done to make the swampbenders mad. Lu Ten only had vague knowledge of the swampbenders from his travels, but no, Lu Ten had never been near the swamps. Had he?

“Where did you pull that idea from Prince Lu Ten?” one of the Generals asked.

Lu Ten opened his mouth to answer but wherever he had pulled it from disappeared. Though a slightly tanned face with copper eyes and a smile that made Lu Ten’s stomach flip appeared before his eyes. It was followed by a fuzzy image of a very odd necklace wrapped around a familiar neck.

“I’m not sure,” Lu Ten said, “it just seemed like a concept I’ve come across before.”

His father hummed to himself as the Generals looked amongst themselves in curiosity.

“You’ve never made mention of this before,” one of the Generals commented.

“It never seemed relevant,” Lu Ten said. “Even with waterbenders it is a wild idea to attempt such a thing. I supposed they are getting desperate.”

“We will leave it here for today,” his father said, “and monitor them closely. They cannot be allowed to free the earthbenders on that prison rig. Lu Ten, stay if you would.”

Lu Ten nodded, waiting until the room emptied to make his way towards his father. He bowed low, but was startled when his father pulled him into a hug.

“Oh, Lu Ten, how I have missed you,” his father said.

“If you’d let me come home, you wouldn’t miss me,” Lu Ten said, bitterly.

“And steal your wife away from her home city?” his father admonished. “Next time you need to bring my grandchildren. I nearly never see them unless I visit you. Stop hiding them from me.”

“Sorry, they are just hard to make long trips with,” Lu Ten said. He didn’t mention that he didn’t even spend time with his family when in New Caldera City, let alone want to bring them here. He had a secret lover who made him happier than his family did and they were the only one Lu Ten wished to bring home with him.

“They will grow out of it,” his father said, “now go settle in.”

Lu Ten nodded before leaving towards his chambers. The giggling started back up and so did the argument.

Lu Ten passed a room as the argument grew only to peer in and see his Aunt and Uncle fighting. It was a familiar fight. One Lu Ten recalled watching go down when spying on family members during vacations. In fact, it was the exact fight Lu Ten had witnessed when he was thirteen down to the word. They were fighting over Zuko and some man named Ikem.

Lu Ten shook his head only to find his Aunt and Uncle glaring at him as his Uncle slammed the door.

The argument stopped but the giggling only got louder.

Lu Ten turned and this time Zuko and Azula stood behind him.

Lu Ten blinked. His own eldest child was four, there was no way a nine and eleven-year-old Azula and Zuko stood behind him. They should be seventeen and nineteen respectively.

“I know something you don’t,” Azula said in a sing song voice.

“Do you?” Lu Ten asked, humoring his cousin.

“Oh yes,” she said, smirking at him.

“Well, Zuko is she telling the truth?” Lu Ten asked, knowing Zuko wouldn’t lie to him.

“Come on,” Zuko said, dragging Lu Ten away. “Azula discovered the most amazing thing. You’ve got to come see it.”

Lu Ten’s brow furrowed. Zuko and Azula never got along. The two were constantly fighting over attention so the fact that the two were willingly sharing the glory of this find meant this must be something very important.

Zuko came to a stop outside the royal prison, where the personal prisoners of the Royal Family were kept. The tall imposing gates dwarfing even Lu Ten in their shadows.

Lu Ten stood outside the gates and looked down at his cousins. They were gone.

Lu Ten swallowed slightly as he made his way into the prison. Whatever his cousins wished to show him better be worth the fear sliding down his spine.

“I’m here,” Lu Ten said, to the guard, pausing slightly, “to see someone.”

He didn’t know who to ask for but it didn’t seem to matter.

The guard said nothing but lead him to a cell in the back. A rather tall man sat in the back hunched over.

“Finally, here to visit?” they asked. Their voice was rough as if the person had been swallowing rocks.

“I suppose I am,” Lu Ten said, trying to catch a better glimpse of the man. “Who are you?”

The prisoner looked up and Lu Ten realized he was staring into his own face. A prominent scar stood out on his forehead, one Lu Ten knew would be missing on his own. That idea seemed wrong as well.

“Everything you could have been,” the other Lu Ten replied, “or rather, you’re everything you could have been, had you not become me. Would it have been worth it?”  
“Why show me this?” Lu Ten asked, his heart racing. “This future has already passed. I can’t go back to this.”

“But mine hasn’t,” the other Lu Ten pointed out. “Is it worth it to continue on the vein you’ve chosen, if you could end up like me?”

Lu Ten paused for a long time looking into the eyes of his other self.

Would it be worth it, to continue to fight if a prison cell was all he was rewarded? Was he on the right path? Sure, Lu Ten knew, he was doing the right thing, but was it the right way?

“Weak-willed,” the other Lu Ten said, “always following along behind the others. First daddy, then your little boyfriends, who next? When you lose your boys and it’s just you in life, who will control Lu Ten then, hmm?”

“Shut up, I’m not weak,” Lu Ten said. His tried not to flinch as his voice broke in the middle of his statement.

“Really?” the other Lu Ten replied. “They why do you have two kids and a wife in one life, while you’ve followed the lead of two random men for five years in another? And you think you can rule the Fire Nation?”

“I know what I’m doing,” Lu Ten said. “I know what I’m doing is right.”

“Then why are you here?” the other Lu Ten asked. “Why are you in this dreamscape with me rather than back in the real world?”

“Because,” Lu Ten said, the words catching in his throat. If he couldn’t be honest to himself, who could he be honest to? “Because, I’m lost. I’ve been turned around by this stupid city. Is it always my fate? Ba Sing Se. Am I always to be tied so intricately to the city? Is that to be my punishment for my misdeeds? A wife I can never love, in a city so far from familiar, until my father dies and I can return home to nothing? A death on the battlefield that leads my family to ruin? A life on the run constantly hiding the fact that I’m alive? Do I ever escape it?”

“If you want to,” the other Lu Ten said. “It is your choice after all. Marry or lose the crown, die or run, lie or tell the truth. It only leads back to the city if you let it. Your story doesn’t have to end in Ba Sing Se, not if you keep writing it, but you’re scared to keep writing it because you’ve fucked up a few parts, haven’t you?”

Lu Ten looked up at his other self. His eyes were a brighter gold color than they were supposed to be, not the brownish hue of Lu Ten’s own eyes.

Something wasn’t right.

“Agni?” Lu Ten asked. Of all the times for the spirit to visit him, Lu Ten had no clue why it chose to do so now.

“Maybe,” the spirit with his face said. “Does it matter?”

Lu Ten looked down at his feet. “I suppose it doesn’t,” Lu Ten said, “but why?”

“Because you were faltering,” Agni said, “and I need you standing proudly. So, some people died, so some got hurt, dust it off, you’ve got bigger fish to fry before they come and fry you.”

“And what if I don’t want what you need,” Lu Ten asked.

Agni’s eyes shone brighter. “You do,” Agni said, “deep in your heart, you want exactly what I want and we are going to get what we want, right Lu Ten?”

Lu Ten said nothing and Agni leaned back into the shadows.

“Give up then,” Agni said, indifferently. “It’s your choice.”

Lu Ten didn’t reply and turned to walk away.

“How do I get home?” Lu Ten asked.

“You are home,” Agni said.

“No, how do I wake up?” Lu Ten asked.

Agni hummed. “You don’t,” he said, “not until you, as the humans say, grow a spine.”

Lu Ten’s stomach dropped.

Mako and Iroh had vaguely explained what Oma and La had done to them in the Dai Li headquarters. Lu Ten supposed it was Agni’s turn.

“So, I agree to fight, or you hold me here forever?” Lu Ten spit out.

“Not forever,” Agni said. “Your fever will kill you eventually.”

Lu Ten growled. “Stop it,” Lu Ten said. “Stop manipulating us!”

“No,” Agni growled back, growing from a mirror image of Lu Ten into a dragon that took up the entire cell, “you stop. Stop doubting yourself and just do what you’re supposed to. You want to know why I never visited you, because I never had to! You were already doing what I wanted but now you’re scared and tired and you’re giving up. So yes, I’m manipulating you.”

Lu Ten jolted when he realized the voice was no longer speaking out loud and was now entirely in his head, though he supposed this was all in his head anyway.  
“Let me go,” Lu Ten said. “I have things to do.”

“Do you?” Agni asked. “What things? Surrendering? Spending the rest of your days hiding in Ba Sing Se till someone else solves all your problems? Sounds riveting.”

Lu Ten could feel an anger far deeper than was reasonable building in him. “Let me go,” Lu Ten said. “You don’t get to dictate my life. If I want to give up, then I will.”

“But will it be worth it?” Agni asked.

“I don’t care,” Lu Ten said.

“You care too much,” Agni corrected.

Lu Ten collapsed to his knees, a weariness far older than himself weighing him down. “Let me go,” Lu Ten said, “I’ll do what you want.”

“Try again,” Agni said.

Lu Ten felt a tear slide down his face as he thought of staying here with a family he never wanted and a distant father. He felt his hands shake at the idea of continuing on with the fight he was taking up against his family. More than anything though he felt broken at the thought of doing nothing.

Lu Ten stood back up, straightening his spine and lifting his head. He glared at Agni, daring the spirit to tell him no again. “Let me go,” Lu Ten said, one last time, “I have something I need to finish.”

Agni smirked at him, as best a dragon could smirk. “Be sure you do,” he said, “oh and Prince Lu Ten, next time don’t make open promises. What I want is what you want, but that might not always be the case.”

“What?” Lu Ten asked, horror sliding down his spine as he realized he had just promised Agni he’d do what the spirit wanted. “You said no!”

“I said try again,” Agni said, his smirk still firmly in place, “and now I’m saying yes. Wake up Lu Ten, you and your friends have a job to do.”

Lu Ten shot upright upon waking. His head slammed into something, probably someone else’s head if the cussing was anything to go by.

“What was that,” Iroh demanded, before letting several more curses fly.

“Lu Ten!” Mako shouted, slamming into Lu Ten’s side.

“Thirsty,” Lu Ten said, looking around for some water.

“Here,” Iroh said, holding out a cup. He still sounded a bit pissed about what happened.

Lu Ten made short work of the cup. “More,” he demanded. He snatched the pitcher from Iroh’s hand before the man could pour him another cup and drank from that.  
“More, so thirsty.”

“We don’t have more Lu,” Mako said, “but we can go get more.”

“Hot,” Lu Ten called, his brain not quiet registering what was going on around him. He tossed the blankets on him off and rolled over to press his face to the cool dirt.

“Alright then,” Iroh said. “I’ll go get more water, you watch him and make sure he doesn’t do anything weird in his fevered state.”

“Um, he’s cuddling with the dirt floor, you’re going to have to give me something more than weird to work with here,” Mako replied.

“Dangerous then,” Iroh said, “now let me out.”

There was the sound of shifting earth that had Lu Ten’s spine tensing up.

A hand came down on his back rubbing it through his tunic.

Now that he realized he was wearing a tunic, Lu Ten needed it off. It was sticking to his skin and making him clammy.

“Off,” Lu Ten said, pulling at the top without moving from the ground.

“Hey, wait, hold on,” Mako said, before sliding his fingers under Lu Ten’s stomach and pulling the tunic free. It easily slid from his shoulders after that. Mako’s hand returned to his back and Lu Ten pressed up into it. Mako’s hands were cold and felt nice against his burning skin.

There was a knocking sound and the earth rumbled again before Iroh’s voice could be heard. “More water,” Iroh said, placing a bucket next to Lu Ten, “drink it slowly.”

A wet cloth started wiping down his back and Lu Ten felt another placed on his neck. He turned slightly and sat up a bit as Iroh held a cup to his lips.

Lu Ten’s head started pounding in time with his heartbeat.

“What’s happening?” Lu Ten asked.

“Not sure,” Iroh said. “It seems to be similar to something my grandfather went through, well actually he’s probably going through it right now. He had reached a point where he had two paths he could take, but his mind refused to process it while his body decided to shut down and force him. Having a crisis of faith lately?”

Lu Ten laughed. “Just a bit,” he said, sitting up and taking the new cup Iroh handed him. “Are we doing the right thing?”

Mako paused where he was running a cold cloth over Lu Ten’s overly-heated body. Iroh stared at him in disbelief.

“Is it the right thing to stop the Fire Nation from taking over the world?” Iroh asked, incredulously.

“No,” Lu Ten said. “No, I know my family and nation need to be stopped but, are we actually helping or are we hindering? Are we even making a difference in events that’s better then what happened the first go round or are we messing things up? I guess, I just, never mind.”

Lu Ten looked down at his cup but didn’t bother drinking it, even as Mako resumed wiping him down.

His head was still pounding against his skull and Lu Ten really just wanted to go back to sleep, though maybe not if Agni would still be there.

“The world wouldn’t be better off if you had died,” Iroh said. Lu Ten’s head shot up as he stared at the other man in disbelief.

“Lu Ten?” Mako asked, his hand stilling again. “Is that what you were trying to ask?”

“I,” Lu Ten said, “I don’t know. These past five years, I felt like I was really doing something, really making a change but now, now I nearly killed you two and Oma and La just killed all those people down there that would have lived had we not been involved. I, is what we are doing, how we are doing it, really changing anything? Are we actually helping? I’m just so confused.”

Lu Ten dropped his head into his hands. “If I had died on that battlefield, would it really have been so bad?” Lu Ten asked. “Why was I saved because I don’t feel like I’ve done anything worth saving and Agni won’t tell me what he wants.”

“You talked to Agni then,” Mako asked.

Lu Ten nodded. “Whatever they want, they managed to trick an agreement out of all of us,” Lu Ten admitted. He didn’t tell them how Agni hadn’t so much as tricked him, as Lu Ten had just said something without thinking. They didn’t need to know how stupid he had been in his dream.

“Lu Ten,” Iroh said, “look at me.”

Lu Ten looked up at Iroh and saw a pissed off look on the other man’s face.

“We make a difference,” Iroh said. “Even if the only differences we make are small and insignificant, we make a difference. We’ve saved countless lives that would have been lost without someone around to stop the Fire Nation, and even if we hadn’t our names, the Sons of Agni have brought a sense of fight back to the Earth Kingdom. That’s not worthless, Lu, and as a dead man you never would have been able to do it. As to why you were worth saving, remember it was Mako and I who decided to drag your half dead ass to an inn and fix you up, not Agni. We decided you were worth it, because we didn’t want to watch you die. The fact that your proved yourself useful, was only a bonus.”

Lu Ten shook slightly as Iroh spoke.

“What now then?” Lu Ten asked. He felt like every direction he faced was the wrong one.

“Now?” Iroh asked, placing his hand against Lu Ten’s forehead. “You get better. Your fever’s broken so you should be fine by morning. Then we will see where everything stands and make a move based off of that.”

Lu Ten didn’t like that answer but he knew it was the only answer he was getting.

“Lu,” Mako said quietly. “You don’t, you don’t actually want to be dead do you?”

Iroh froze where he was moving to pour Lu Ten more water. Something about the man’s behavior and responses to Lu Ten, told him Iroh knew more about Lu Ten’s headspace than the other man should.

“No,” Lu Ten said, meaning it. Iroh’s shoulders relaxed and Mako sighed with relief. “I don’t want to be dead, but, when you know vaguely what the world looks like with you dead and compare it to what it looks like with you alive, well, it’s hard. The stories you two tell, make me worry when something goes drastically different because, well I’m the difference aren’t I? So, that makes me the catalyst.”

“It’s not just you Lu Ten,” Mako said. “You think Ro and I don’t panic every time we change something from the way we know it happens? That we don’t worry every time we change something that we’ve somehow broken the future irreparably? You’re not the only difference here Lu, Iroh and I aren’t even supposed to be here!”

Mako grabbed Lu Ten’s hand. “We’re in this together and if we fail, we do that together too,” Mako said. “Okay?”

Lu Ten looked away but squeezed Mako’s hand in confirmation.

“You know,” Iroh said, “maybe we shouldn’t keep trying to preserve every little detail.”

Lu Ten and Mako looked at him incredulously.

“No, I know, I’m the one who started that,” Iroh said, holding up his hands, “but here me out. We are starting to reach the end of the war here and we are having a harder and harder time trying to keep our distance from the main fights but maybe we shouldn’t. So long as the outcomes remain somewhat similar, the war should end somewhat similar and if it doesn’t, we just plan something else. But, if Lu Ten is going to take the throne, we are going to need to take a bit more action then we currently are. I’m not sure how much longer hiding is going to work for us, is all I’m saying.”

Lu Ten glanced at Mako but the other man seemed contemplative rather than dismissive. Lu Ten wasn’t sure what to think of what Iroh said.

The idea of no longer trying to preserve the time line made him worried, as they could seriously damage the war effort. On the other hand, Lu Ten wanted more than anything to make a difference. He needed that moment where everything came together and showed him exactly why he needed to live in this world.

Lu Ten felt a cough building in his throat and after a particularly harsh one that took what little voice Lu Ten did have away, Iroh ordered him to bed. They would talk more when Lu Ten was better.

Lu Ten didn’t argue, slipping easily into sleep.

Lu Ten didn’t wake up until the morning of the next day. He could feel the sunrise but it felt different. His fever was finally gone and now Lu Ten was chilled and regretted throwing off his tunic and blanket.

He sat up, stretching out the kink in his back and shuddering as his back popped in three different places.

That was when he realized exactly where Mako and Iroh had brought him.

No longer delirious with fever, the smell of moist dirt sent alarm bells ringing in Lu Ten’s head. He was up and pacing the small cave area trying to find the way out. He dug his fingers into ever crevice he could fine trying to find a place where it gave. 

The earth vibrated suddenly and Lu Ten flinched. Light spilled out in front of him. 

Lu Ten scrambled for the opening and took several deep breaths as he collapsed on the stone walkway outside of the hole.

A hand came to rest on his back.

“Shh,” Mako said, hugging him from behind. “It will all be okay Lu. I’m sorry we took you down there but the Dai Li are watching the house. I was barely able to get our stuff without alerting them to us still being around.”

“I’m fine,” Lu Ten said, shaking himself. “I just wasn’t expecting it.”

“I’m sorry,” Mako said. “I thought you knew. You didn’t react to it last night but I suppose your fever had you a bit out of it. Do you at least remember what we discussed last night?”

“Somewhat,” Lu Ten said. “The general picture.”

Mako nodded. “Do you need more time out here or are you okay with going back down?” Mako asked. “We need to start planning.”

“I’m ready,” Lu Ten said, reluctantly following Mako back down.

Mako left the doorway open for him and Lu Ten was grateful.

Iroh was sat up against a wall waiting for him.

“Azula is in the city,” Iroh started with no preamble. “She’s pretending to be a Kyoshi Warrior. She’s going to gain the trust of the Earth King this way as well as have easy access to help Long Feng. She’ll double cross him later once she has the Earth King imprisoned. Katara stops for tea at your father’s new shop, accidently informs Azula that Zuko and your father are in the city and gets captured. They will be invited to the palace to serve tea, where Zuko also gets captured. Your father will go to Aang and them to get help finding Zuko. Zuko joins Azula in the fight that ensues and Azula kills Aang. Katara has spirit oasis water that will allow her to heal him. So, what we need is to know is how far into these events we are and what we can and cannot change here.”

Lu Ten sighed. “We can’t change that last bit, can we?” he asked. “Where Zuko joins Azula and Azula kills Aang?”

Iroh shook his head.

“Not advisable, no,” Iroh said. “I’m not sure how things would play out if my grandfather doesn’t go home. He learned a lot of information that changed his world views while there. I don’t think he’d be willing to help without it and it’s not just something you can tell him. As for Aang dying, we might be able to change that. Aang being dead was the reason my grandfather was allowed home but Azula seemed insistent on Zuko coming with her so she might be able to swing it anyway.”

“Can we risk that she can’t?” Lu Ten asked.

Iroh rubbed his hand across his face. “Good point,” Iroh said.

“Why not fake his death?” Mako said. “We faked Lu Ten’s. Do you think we could fake Aang’s?

“That might be possible but we need to know what’s going on up there first,” Iroh said. “We might not have much time.”

Lu Ten sighed. “So, we can do basically nothing at this point?” Lu Ten asked.

“Mitigate the damages?” Mako suggested.

“Pretty much,” Iroh said. “We could stay in the city when it falls but I’m not sure how much resistance would work in this instance.”

“I hate this,” Lu Ten said, leaning on Iroh.

“I do to,” Iroh replied.

“You watch Lu Ten,” Mako said suddenly. “Make sure he’s fit to fight. I’m going up top to figure out what’s going on.”

Iroh opened his mouth as if to stop Mako but Mako had already slipped form their hiding spot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This and the next one are my two favorite chapters in this story if I'm being honest.


	23. Crystal Caves - Mako

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mako does reconnaissance and gets captured. All in a days work for the detective.

Mako crawled from their underground hideout, not waiting for a reply from Iroh or Lu Ten. He already knew the two men wouldn’t have agreed with his decision to leave but someone needed to do it and Lu Ten needed a healer, just in case.

The past few days had been stressful, on both Lu Ten who was fighting off a nasty fever and Mako and Iroh who had been fighting to keep Lu Ten alive. Every day that passed where Lu Ten’s skin remained burning hot to the touch and clammy was another day where Mako was worried the man would never wake up.

Lu Ten had been scaring him since they returned from the Dai Li headquarters. He had been quiet and withdrawn once he broke through the brainwashing and Mako feared they might have done something wrong.

Mako was just about to write down Lu Ten’s behavior as a reaction to them telling him what went down at the Dai Li headquarters, when Lu Ten fell into his fever.   
It had been sudden and without warning.

One moment Lu Ten was fine and getting up to go to the bathroom, then next he was slipping to the floor in a daze. If Iroh hadn’t taken charge of the situation, Mako was sure he was going to lose it. It had been one thing too many to almost lose Lu Ten to a fever of all things.

Mako knew it had been something to keep his mind busy when Iroh sent him out to get their stuff from the house. Still, busy work or not it had proved very difficult sneaking into their home while Dai Li agents watched from nearly every angle. 

Mako had to wonder how they even had that many people left, though the thought had brought with it a sinking feeling of shame.

It wasn’t the first time Mako had killed someone, but it was the first time he had been responsible for so many civilian casualties. Mako didn’t care how Iroh phrased it, they were responsible. They were the once who allowed Oma and La in. They were the ones who allowed the spirits to do what they did.

Mako had a hard time sleeping due to what happened. The worst part was that Mako knew, even if he had known what Oma had planned, if it meant getting their group out, he probably would have done it anyway. 

He supposed that was what was really eating at him. Iroh wouldn’t get it. He was a pretty selfless person, always willing to pull a sacrifice play and while Mako was also willing to pull a sacrifice play, it was only ever himself he planned to sacrifice. Iroh was the type to think of the welfare of the many over the few. Mako was sure the man wouldn’t have understood Mako’s need to make sure his people were safe before all others.

Mako shook his head as he approached the wall between the lower and middle ring. He needed to stop dwelling on it, but the event was constantly circling in his head. He was hoping this venture to gain information would distract him but all it seemed to have done is left him alone with his thoughts.

Mako paused at the gates and pulled out his passport. Of the three of them Mako was the only one with a passport left, which made this part easy. Getting between the Middle Ring into the Upper Ring would be the hard part, as Mako’s passport wouldn’t allow him access.

Mako slipped through the gate with ease and started walking to the next wall. It wasn’t exactly a long journey considering the way the roads were laid out. You could walk straight all the way from the Outer Wall to the palace without having to make a single turn. It was the only thing Mako really liked about Ba Sing Se. It’s main roads were easy to navigate, it’s sideroads were the ones you had to watch out for as they could twist and turn all over.

As Mako got closer to the Upper Ring he ducked down one of the odd sideroads and wound his way slowly to the wall.

He crouched behind a house, looking around to make sure no one could see him. He wasn’t too surprised at the lack of Dai Li agents. With their numbers cut the way they were they’d need to concentrate their forces in the Lower and Upper Rings. Guards made up most of the law enforcement here.

Mako looked up and down the wall. He was crouched between two of the guard towers. He frowned as he registered which way the guards were facing. Between the Lower and Middle Rings the guards faced both directions, making sure no one was sneaking something they shouldn’t be between the two rings but here the guards were all facing the Middle Ring as if to say, “you don’t belong here, turn around”.

This made Mako’s mission a lot harder as sneaking past one guard tower would be easy but sneaking past two would be a lot more difficult.

Mako glanced between the two guard towers thinking. It was as he glanced at the one on this left that an idea struck. There was a canal just past the left side tower.  
The canals of the city ran between the rings of the city without discrimination. The only issue would be the grates that block trash and people from sneaking that way, but if Mako could loosen the stone around said grate, he should be able to slip through.

Mako stood up and turned around. He would head back towards the main city before slipping up the canal under the bridge like structure near the wall. He’d need to be careful as the water could potentially drag him down if he let it.

What he really needed right now was Iroh but there was no real point in going to get the man now. Instead, Mako slipped into the cold water of the canal before ducking under to get closer to the cover of the wall.

Once sheltered from the view of the guards, Mako placed his hand to the wall. The metal spikes were a lot longer than expected but they still pulled free after Mako broke the earth surrounding them. He only removed two of them as he was able to squeeze through the small space made and didn’t want to risk getting caught.

It was only when he was on the other side of the wall that Mako realized that his idea might not have been the best.

His clothes were heavy with water and Mako had no real way of getting dry. He cursed slightly, once more wishing Iroh were here to fix this.

With no other option, Mako slipped towards the drying lines of one of the homes along the wall. A quick trip in and out of their gated property had Mako in clothing that were both dry and appropriate for the area.

With no real need to sneak, Mako set off to find the Avatar and Lu Ten’s family.

That was when Mako realized, he had no clue where they were. He hadn’t bothered to ask Iroh for the tea shop’s address nor where Aang and his friends lived.

Mako facepalmed before rubbing the back of his neck and picking a random direction to walk in. He stayed on the main street for the most part, but occasionally ducked onto side roads just to see. It was there that luck struck and Mako found one of those bison flyers that had been everywhere in the city. No doubt the Dai Li were responsible for how quickly they disappeared.

With an address now in hand, Mako was able to make quick work of finding the house.

He was more than concerned when he found it empty.

There was no one in the house, in fact there were barely any things within the house either. The room Mako assumed was Sokka and Aang’s proved empty of everything save for a bunch of Appa doodles and an Air Nomad beaded necklace which sat on a dresser.

The other bedroom was slightly more lived in. Katara’s stuff was clearly in the room with a waterbending scroll rolled out over the desk and one of her outfits laid out over a chair in the corner. If she shared the room with Toph it was hard to tell as there was nothing else in the room to indicate someone else was sleeping there.

Mako pulled back.

Katara was at least still in the house, even if the others seemingly disappeared for no reason.

Still, there was nothing else he could gather from an empty house, short of breaking into the building, so he moved on.

The Jasmin Dragon proved difficult to find but he was eventually sent in the right direction when an older man asked if he was lost.

“Ah,” Mako said, “a bit. I’ve got a date at the Jasmine Dragon and I don’t really know where it is.”

The old man laughed. “Oh,” he said, “I’ve done that a time or to myself. Just continue up this street and take the next right, you’ll see the sign. Don’t keep your lady waiting!”

Mako smiled at the man, not bothering to react to the lady comment.

The tea shop was where he said it would be and it was bustling with customers.

Mako watched as people waited outside the shop for seats and had to wonder if Lu Ten’s father’s tea was actually so spectacular. He supposed one day he’d find out, if he and Lu Ten made it to the end of the war alive.

He inched closer to the shop and peered through the back window. Lu Ten’s father was moving around the kitchen making tea and the occasional bite of food.

Zuko pushed his way into the kitchen and smiled as he asked for an order.

Mako blinked. 

There was no way this bubbly and bright kid was the same asshole punk teenager Mako knew. Mako continued to watch the shop for a bit but when nothing else seemed to happen, he slipped away.

Mako sat with his back against the alley wall between the Jasmin Dragon and some pottery shop. He contemplated returning to Iroh and Lu Ten with the information he had but it wasn’t useful information. It didn’t tell them anything about when in the timeline they were or what events they were about to find themselves mixed up in.

It was all he had though, so he stood and hoped Iroh could make sense of it.

As he stepped out from the alleyway the palace caught his eye where it towered over the Upper Ring.

It was a stupid idea. Mako knew it, but it would get them some answers.

Iroh said Azula might be in the city as a Kyoshi Warrior, if Mako could slip into the palace, he could prove that definitively and they would know about when they stood.

He would need a disguise though as there was no way he was getting into the palace on his own.

That was when Mako saw them.

Before now, Iroh had been the only one who had ever seen their Dai Li watchers and Mako supposed that was still true as this Dai Li agent wasn’t bothering to hide from Mako. No, he was hiding from Lu Ten’s father and cousin.

Mako wasn’t nearly as skilled as Iroh at scaling roofs but he managed to get up there, even as he carried a stolen wooden board. The Dai Li agent certainly wasn’t expecting to fight a piece of wood today as Mako managed to knock him out in one hit to the back of his head.

Mako traded out their clothes, making sure to put the man somewhere he wouldn’t be easily found. Hopefully the man would be out for a while. The last thing he needed was to be caught because the guy woke up and told on him.

With the man now hidden, Mako was able to make his way towards the palace wall. He tried his hardest to mimic the straight-backed walk and graceful agility of the Dai Li. He wasn’t quite sure how convincing he was being but it would have to do.

There were other Dai Li agents standing on top of the wall and Mako panicked for a moment that he would be caught. The other agents simply nodded at him, one slipping away back towards the tea shop. Mako felt his stomach drop at that.

Now he definitely had a time limit as the other agent was sure to find the man Mako had knocked out. Mako tried to hurry into the palace, walking with the confidence of someone who knew where he was going.

“Agent Shin,” a voice called, “how were your charges?”

“Still no suspicious activity,” Mako reported, not bothering to turn around, “and they are none the wiser to being watched.”

The person who called after him simply hummed in response but allowed Mako to continue on.

Mako’s heartbeat picked up. He knew they were suspicious of him now but he might as well try and get in, get some information and get out. It was the only real option left to him at this point.

Mako walked into the palace, keeping his stride even. He’d been here only once but he knew vaguely where the throne room was.

He peered around the corner to try and see what was going on inside. There were two Kyoshi Warriors in the room but Iroh had said the Kyoshi Warriors would actually be Azula and her friends. These appeared to be the friends, so where was Azula?

Mako pulled back from the throne room and continued wandering around the palace. While knowing the Kyoshi Warriors were here that didn’t paint a big enough picture. Where was the Earth King? Was he arrested or simply somewhere else?

Mako’s question was soon answered as Azula and the Earth King turned to corner. The Earth King seemed to be talking to the Fire Nation Princess in great detail about something, though Mako couldn’t really hear them.

“I thought the Dai Li weren’t to be seen,” Azula said, staring Mako down where he stood in the middle of the hall.

“Um, I’m new?” Mako said, suppressing a wince at how stupid of a response that was.

“It’s fine,” the Earth King said jovial. “Practice makes perfect after all!”

Mako nodded, slipping into the shadows of the hall as the two made their way into the throne room. He felt a chill go down his spine as Azula turn back to watch him once more.

Mako turned to leave. He had what he needed and now it was time to get out before he got captured.

It was the gossip that did him in.

Mako was nearly at the exit of the palace, where it was just a quick jump over the wall and back out into the city, when he heard something that stopped him in his tracks.

“Yes, that waterbender with the Avatar,” someone whispered. “The Kyoshi Warriors arrested her.”

“But why, she was allied with the King!” another voice replied.

“I don’t know,” the first voice responded. Their voice dropped lower and Mako had to back up to hear them. “I’m not sure everything is as it seems around here. With Long Feng arrested we may be looking at a coup.”

The other person gasped. “No, not in Ba Sing Se!” they said.

“Keep it down, you’ll get us caught by the Dai Li,” the first person snapped.

“Agent Shin,” a voice said from behind Mako. It was the Dai Li agent from before.

The gossipers fell silent even as their footsteps were heard echoing down the hall as they ran.

Mako leaned up. “I was merely listening to what the servants had to say,” Mako replied. “I’ll get back to my duties.”

“You don’t have any duties, Agent Shin,” the agent said. “You’re an infiltrator.”

Mako felt his blood run cold. He didn’t bother looking behind him as he took off running. Earth cuffs tried to wrap around him and Mako shattered them in the air. He launched the debris behind him as he ran for an open window.

He wasn’t Iroh but hopefully he could still make the jump from the window to the palace roof several feet away and below.

His foot hit the window sill and he jumped just in time for another set of rock cuffs to hit the window where Mako’s feet had just been.

Mako didn’t land on the roof, but his did slam into side of the building in a way that let him pull himself onto the roof.

Mako rubbed his chest where it had hit the edge of the roof and started running again. It hurt to breathe but Mako didn’t have time to stop moving.

He ran across the roof, skidding to a stop and turning when another Dai Li agent appeared in front of him. Mako couldn’t go back or forward so he went to the side and dropped from the roof.

He landed in the palace gardens and felt his ankle roll out from under him. He didn’t have time to stop and assess the damage that caused but the pain radiating from there told him he had probably twisted it. 

There was a small grove of trees that Mako ran towards, hoping he could swerve in and out of, to get the Dai Li agents off his back while also covering his escape.

It worked, for the most part and Mako was able to reach the wall. He dug his hand into the stone and started climbing. It made him a bit of a sitting turtle-duck but there wasn’t really other option. He was about half way up it when a rock glove slammed down on one hand and a throwing knife imbedded itself in the other.

Mako hissed at the knife in his hand. That wasn’t going to be easy for Iroh to heal. Mako just hoped it had missed the bone. He snatched his hand that was trapped under the rock glove form the wall and sent it flying towards Mai. It wrapped around her wrist, trapping her against the wall of the palace.

Mako took a deep breath before pulling out the knife and dropping it on the Dai Li agent below. It hit the man in the jaw, knocking him from the wall before he could grab ahold to Mako’s ankle.

Mako’s hand felt like it was on fire and he wondered vaguely if Mai used poisons in addition to knives. He had never bothered to ask Iroh about it, but it would have been useful to know if Mako was dizzy due to blood loss and pain or something worse.

He shook himself, regretting it instantly as it made his dizziness worse. He kept climbing anyway and managed to pull himself onto the wall, just in time to kick down the man right behind him. His heel connected with the man’s face and Mako knew at the least the man would have a broken nose.

Mako paused to catch his breath but as he moved to jump down the wall back into the Upper Ring a sharp pinching feeling hit the back of his neck. The last thing he saw before he toppled to the ground was Ty Lee’s smiling and painted face.

Mako grunted slightly as he slowly woke up.

“Mako?” a voice called out. “Mako wake up.”

Mako groaned and moved to swat at the offending voice. His arm didn’t budge from where it was held.

Mako’s eyes shot open and the first thing he registered was Katara’s wide startled blue eyes.

“Oh good,” Katara said, “Azula threw you down here several hours ago but I couldn’t get you to wake up. I healed your ankle as best I could but sprains are tricky, sorry.”

“Wait slow down,” Mako said, taking in the room.

He and Katara were locked underground in a room full of crystals. Katara was allowed to walk the room freely. If Mako had to guess it was because she couldn’t earthbend her way out.

Mako on the other hand was chained up to the celling of the cave. His hands were stretched high above him and encased in metal. The chain was taught and kept Mako’s torso uncomfortably stretched particularly with the bruising on his ribs Katara didn’t heal. Mako supposed the young woman simply hadn’t known the injury was there.

Much like his hand that was still burning but had apparently been bandaged by someone.

His feet weren’t much better, chained as they were to two strips of metal that separated him from the ground.

“Okay,” Mako said, “I got captured by Azula and so did you. Great, fantastic, is there any way you can break these cuffs?”

Katara shook her head.

“I tried,” she said, “I wasn’t able to get them to snap by waterbending and there’s no key to open them with.”

“Alright,” Mako said. “I guess we wait. What I wouldn’t give to be able to bend metal.”

“Can you even do that?” Katara asked.

Mako didn’t say anything. He just dropped his head to rest on his chest. He had no clue what to do now. He needed to get back to Iroh and Lu Ten but doing that meant escaping which wasn’t looking like an option.

The drill swam in his vision and Mako shook himself.

That had just been luck. There’s no way he had bent metal. Bolin couldn’t even bend metal and he was way better at this earthbending thing then Mako.

Then again, advanced bending arts were usually about mindsets. Mako had the discipline to lightning bend, so it was at least worth a try.

He closed his eyes and tried to feel out the earth. A slight panic slid down his spine as he realized it wasn’t there. He recentered his breath and tired again but there was still nothing to feel.

Mako curled his toes against the metal slabs his feet were placed on, trying to get a feel for the cold earth. It wasn’t working.

“How long have we been down here?” Mako asked.

“I was taken about halfway through yesterday,” Katara said. “I discovered Zuko was in Ba Sing Se and went to warn the Earth King only for Azula, Mai and Ty Lee to capture me. My friends aren’t coming. They are spread out all over the place right now. Aang went to the Eastern Air Temple, while my brother went to meet up with the Southern Water Tribe fleet and Toph, well, she might notice me gone as she went to go visit her mother and might be back by now. You got brought down here last night around sunset.”

Mako sighed. “That sounds right,” he said. “Lu and Ro will be here soon then.”

“How do you know?” Katara asked.

“Trust me,” Mako said. “They would have started searching last night. The only thing stopping them is they don’t know where this place is but it won’t stop them for long. Particularly if they meet up with Toph.”

“Why would they meet up with Toph?” Katara asked.

“Because,” Mako said, “they knew I was watching both your house and the tea shop before I disappeared. What they don’t know is that I then broke into the palace.”  
“You,” Katara said, pausing slightly in surprise, “you broke into, you knew about, what?”

“I broke into the palace and I knew about Zuko and his uncle being in the city, yes,” Mako said.

“Why didn’t you do anything about it?” Katara demanded.

“What was there to do?” Mako asked. “Report them for making tea? Azula is the problem here not them, at least not yet.”

Katara huffed.

“I trusted you guys,” Katara said, “but recently you’ve made me doubt that.”

“Yeah, recently we’ve made ourselves doubt that,” Mako muttered.

Katara turned away from him and Mako went back to trying to metalbend.

It was an hour or so later that the earth shook and a door seemed to appear out of nowhere.

Zuko was thrown down a small ramp towards the ground and landed at Katara’s feet.

“More company,” the Dai Li agent said, resealing the door.

“Zuko,” Katara shouted in surprise before her face hardened. Her voice was sterner as she yelled his name again, “Zuko!”

Zuko looked up at Katara, and then Mako in confusion.

“What?” he asked.

“Welcome to the club of a fourteen-year-old outsmarted us,” Mako said. “You are the second most pathetic person in the club, the first apparently being me. Twenty-eight years on this planet has done nothing to help me.”

“Why are you two down here?” Zuko demanded.

“She was telling on you to the wrong people,” Mako said, “and I broke into the palace. It’s not really important but if you’ve got an idea on how to get out, I’m all ears.”

Zuko ignored him and instead plopped down on the ground and dropped his head in his hands.

Something about that response set Katara off.

“Why did they throw you in here?” Katara asked. Zuko didn’t respond to her and Mako really wished he could bust free so he didn’t have to sit through whatever teenage drama was going on. “Oh, wait, let me guess. It’s a trap. So that when Aang shows up to help me, you can finally have him in your little Fire Nation clutches.”

“Zuko isn’t working with Azula,” Mako interjected when it seemed like Zuko wouldn’t respond.

“What do you mean?” Katara said, whirling on Mako. Mako pulled on his chains again hoping maybe a sneak attack would make the metal budge. All that did was tug on his hand and cause pain to shoot down his arm.

“I mean he didn’t even know she was in the city,” Mako said, pouting as his chins remained firmly attached to the ceiling. 

If he could just move his hands from where they were twisted up in each other he might be able to get the chain loose from the ceiling.

“And how do you know that?” Katara demanded.

“We’ve been watching them since they got into the city,” Mako said, “or well, Ro’s been watching them. Azula, well we have no clue when she got here. Haven’t seen her since the drill, up until, you know when she captured me.”

“Well,” Katara huffed, turning back to Zuko. “It doesn’t matter, you’re still a terrible person! You know that? Always following us! Hunting the Avatar! Trying to capture the world's last hope for peace! But what do you care? You're the Fire Lord's son. Spreading war and violence and hatred is in your blood!”

“Hey,” Mako called, more than irritated by that last statement. “That’s uncalled for.”

“What?” Katara yelled. “How is it uncalled for?”

Mako didn’t say anything. He couldn’t. Not without revealing to Zuko who Lu Ten actually was, but Katara’s statement rubbed him wrong. An insult to Zuko’s blood was an insult to Lu Ten’s. Lu Ten was more than what his ancestors had done. Lu Ten was more then what he had done in the past. He wasn’t filled with war and violence and hatred. He was more than that, but Mako had no reason to say it. Not about Lu the Red Dragon.

He looked away and closed his eyes instead. “Teenagers,” he muttered under his breath. He hoped he hadn’t been that dramatic at that age, thought thinking back he was probably worse.

“Whatever,” Zuko muttered. “It’s not like she knows what she’s talking about any way.”

“Oh, I don’t?” Katara asked, her hands taking up residence on her hips. “How dare you, you have no idea what this war has put me through!”

Katara collapsed to the ground as tears started falling down her cheeks. “Me personally,” she said, “the Fire Nation took my mother away from me.”

Mako slumped in his chains. He clearly wasn’t about to discover the secret to metalbending now.

“Katara,” Mako called as the girl broke down into sobs.

“I’m sorry,” Zuko said. He paused for a moment. “That’s something we have in common.”

Katara made a confused noise as she looked up at Zuko and wiped her eyes.

Mako dropped his head. How many people who lost their mothers to firebenders could you possibly fit in one room? This wasn’t going to end well.

“She died when I was eleven,” Zuko said. “The circumstances were weird because my cousin Lu Ten and my grandfather had died around the same time. A lot of people said it was an assassination but my mom told me goodbye the night before she disappeared. I don’t know what happened. All three of them seemed fine and the suddenly one after the other all three of them were gone.”

“I’m sorry I yelled at you before,” Katara said.

“It doesn’t matter,” Zuko said.

Mako didn’t want to interrupt whatever moment the two of them where having together but it was very awkward being the third wheel in the cave.

Mako decided he could at least pretend he was trying to metalbend to pass the time. He closed his eyes, blocking out the sounds of Katara and Zuko talking about Zuko’s scar. He needed to focus.

No, he needed to drift. Mako thought back to the first time he had been able to sense the earth and how Lu Ten moved across the ground. It hadn’t been focusing, it had been a wandering meditation.

Mako gave it a try, as he had nothing better to do. He let his worries slip from his mind as best he could and let his mind wander. He could feel the earth, even as far away as it was but had no real control over it. He couldn’t move his feet without straining his arms and he couldn’t move his arms at all.

He pushed that worry aside too. 

He did manage to get his fingers lose from the knot the Dai Li had made of them and pressed them lightly against the inside of their metal cage.

With his senses wide open, Mako could feel the stone crystals around the room, much like he had when he entered that jewelry store. Mako’s mind drifted to the ring he had tucked away in his bag back at their hideout, but there was no time to unpack that either.

He shoved it aside and as he did another crystal-like stone made itself known, wrapped tightly around Mako’s hands. His breath caught and the connection nearly slipped from him. Mako stilled his breathing and reached for the connection again.

He didn’t know what to do with it.

Mako felt out the metal surrounding his hands by pressing his fingers harder to the metal. It bent slightly out of shape but still remained latched around his hands. Then Mako’s finger skimmed over a small crack in the metal, where the cuffs sealed together.

He smirked slightly as he slowly forced the cuffs to release and he went tumbling to the ground at Katara and Zuko’s feet.

“Ha,” Mako yelled, “I did it!”

He looked up to see Katara and Zuko staring at him, Katara’s hand still pressed to Zuko’s face.

“Um, sorry, continue,” Mako said, trying to remove himself from the emotionally charged moment he had just intruded on.

Before Katara or Zuko could speak again a hole appeared in the wall.

Aang appeared first, having been the one earthbending.

“Aang,” Katara yelled, dismissing Zuko and running to her friend. She pulled Aang into a hug, oblivious to the glare Aang shot Zuko. “Aang, I knew you would come.”  
Mako decided not to mention when she said she thought Toph was the only one who might be around to do so.

Lu Ten’s father wrapped Zuko up into a hug as well and Mako had to brace himself as Lu Ten charged into him at full speed.

“Mako, Mako, Mako,” Lu Ten said, squeezing the life out of Mako. He lifted Mako off his feet before dropping him down and pulling him onto a deep kiss, seemingly uncaring of the others in the room.

“Hey, about time you two got here,” Mako said, as Iroh cuffed him on the back.

“Well, if you hadn’t gotten captured, it wouldn’t have been a problem,” Iroh said. “Speaking of which why were you down here this whole time if you could have just earthbent out?”

“Oh well, I was chained up and -,” Mako started but was cut off.

“Uncle, I don't understand. What are you doing with the Avatar?” Zuko asked.

“Saving you, that’s what,” Aang said.

Zuko stepped forward to fight Aang but found Lu Ten blocking the way.

“Kiddo, just take the win,” Lu Ten said.

Zuko jolted slightly at that and stared up at Lu Ten oddly.

“Uncle, who are these two and why is Rozin with them?” Zuko asked.

“It’s not important,” Lu Ten’s father said. “Zuko, it's time we talked.”

He placed his hand on Zuko’s shoulder and gestured the rest of them out. “Go help you other friends. We'll catch up with you,” he said.

Katara and Aang immediately ran from the room. Mako and Iroh moved to follow but Lu Ten stalled.

“Go,” Lu Ten’s father called, shoving Lu Ten lightly towards the door.

Lu Ten nodded before running towards Mako and Iroh.

“What was that about?” Mako asked.

“Tell you later,” Lu Ten said, grabbing Mako’s hand. “I’m glad you’re okay. I was worried about you.”

Mako shot a reassuring smile towards Lu Ten before awkwardly placing a kiss on the back of his hand as they continued running. He’d get Iroh to heal his other hand after, they didn’t have the time now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mako why are you always like this?
> 
> For anyone wondering my personal headcanon is that Bolin can't metalbend because he's naturally gifted at lavabending. This being said, Mako isn't going to be a lavabender, even though he has the genetics for it, in this because I personally feel like his nature is more inclined towards the hard and true style of metalbending then the flowing adaptive style of lavabending.


	24. Endgame - Iroh

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Iroh and Lu Ten go looking for Mako and get dragged into the fall of the city.

Iroh watched as Mako disappeared up into the Lower Ring. He had nearly stopped the other man but between Lu Ten getting over his illness and brainwashing and Mako having the only usable passport, it did make sense that he would go. Still, it would have been nice if Mako had actually talked to them about it first.

Iroh could tell the action unsettled Lu Ten. The other man tried to subtly scoot closer to the exit. Iroh supposed he could just be thankful Mako had left it open for the time being.

“I won’t judge you if you sit over there,” Iroh said. “We knew taking you down here would be a bad idea but there wasn’t another option where we knew there was no chance of them finding us.”

“I understand,” Lu Ten replied.

“So, while Mako’s gone, we might as well not sit around idle,” Iroh said. “You want to try and save Aang. Let’s think about how to do that.”

Personally, Iroh wasn’t sure that was the best idea but, if they were changing the future now, they might as well try. Though Iroh wasn’t sure how badly saving Aang would affect the outcome of the event. He was hesitant but if it made Lu Ten feel better it didn’t hurt to at least talk about it.

“Right,” Lu Ten said, perking up slightly. “So, how did it happen?”

“Azula shot him in the back with lightning while he was in the Avatar state,” Iroh said.

“Oh,” Lu Ten replied, sitting back. “Then that’s easy enough. I just need to redirect the lightning before it can hit Aang.”

“How though?” Iroh said. “Aang was in the air from what I was told, or at least he fell from a great height the way grandad always told the story.”

Lu Ten raised his brow in question.

“Don’t ask me,” Iroh said, holding his hands up. “Apparently the Avatar can levitate in the Avatar state.”

“Well, where was Azula then,” Lu Ten asked. “Can I catch it before it ever really flies free?”

“I don’t know but do you actually think you can get that close to her and stay there?” Iroh said. “We would only have a split-second shot and we have no clue when that split second would be.”

Lu Ten frowned. “I think I can,” Lu Ten said. “Azula seems to have a personal vendetta against me and I don’t know if it’s because I’m a firebender or something else.”

“I suppose we’d have to see,” Iroh said. “Any other ideas?”

Lu Ten yawned and shook his head.

“Go back to sleep,” Iroh said, shaking his head.

“No, I just woke up!” Lu Ten said.

“And you’re still tired,” Iroh replied. “Fighting a fever isn’t exactly relaxing and you’re still use to waking up at noon. Just a short nap. I’ll wake you up for lunch.”

Lu Ten huffed. “Fine,” he said.

Iroh was about to ask if he wanted the sleeping mats brought over there when Lu Ten curled up in a ball to sleep in the patch of sunlight streaming in through the hole in the ground.

Iroh rolled his eyes.

Lu Ten was a fucking cat.

Iroh ignored Lu Ten’s curled up form and moved into one of his yoga poses. Iroh had nothing better to do until Mako returned so he might as well stretch out his sore muscles.

It also helped him clear his mind.

Iroh wasn’t too sure about his plan to stop being so careful with the time line but he knew Lu Ten needed to feel like he was making a difference. Iroh just wished the man understood that he was already making a difference and that the real changes would start after the war was won.

There was nothing Iroh could do about it and that drove him mad.

Iroh made a face as he bent forward and a muscle in his back protested. It was where he had gotten hit at some point down in the Dai Li headquarters and it hurt, badly. Iroh knew from a comment Mako made that a huge bruise took up half his back.

No amount of stretching made it hurt less so Iroh gave up, plopping down to work on stretching out his legs.

He thought about Mako’s quest for information and hoped they had more time than he feared they did. Iroh had kept count of the days. Between the time they had spent in the medical clinic and the two days Lu Ten was fighting his fever they had wasted several days at this point.

Lu Ten whimpered in his sleep and Iroh’s head jerked around to watch him.

“Lu?” Iroh asked.

The man didn’t move but it was clear his dream was distressing him. Iroh shook him lightly and Lu Ten jolted awake.

“Want to talk about it?” Iroh asked.

Lu Ten shook his head and tucked a long strand of hair behind his ear.

“Want me to hold you?” Iroh asked, no judgement in his voice.

Lu Ten nodded.

Iroh stood and moved towards Lu Ten, pulling the other man to his chest as he himself leaned back against the small incline leading out.

Iroh wasn’t sure how long they stayed like that but they both fell into a soft slumber.

“It’s night fall,” Lu Ten said, pacing around the room.

Iroh wouldn’t admit it but he was just as nervous as Lu Ten was.

Mako hadn’t returned.

“Let’s give him a bit longer,” Iroh said. “Then we will go look for him.”

He was glad they had slept most of the day asleep as it became clear to him, they were about to spend the night searching for Mako.

Ten minutes passed, then thirty. After an hour of waiting, Iroh and Lu Ten slipped from the cave. They left their duffle bags hidden in the cave but Iroh had a foreboding feeling this wouldn’t be a return trip.

Without an earthbender slipping between the rings proved difficult, but Lu Ten quickly solved their problem. The canals allowed free entry and exit between the rings, for water at least, but between a firebender and waterbender who could both easily cut the steel bars, it wasn’t a barrier for long.

They didn’t even need to do it themselves when slipping towards the Upper Ring as an earthbender had already cleared the way.

“Well, Mako’s been here at least,” Lu Ten pointed out.

“Yes,” Iroh said, “but did he get caught here, or did he get caught somewhere else?”

Lu Ten sighed. 

“How likely are we to find him?” Lu Ten asked.

“Before or after everything goes to shit?” Iroh asked.

“At all,” Lu Ten clarified.

“Worse comes to worse, we can wait until Aang and the others return,” Iroh said. “If Mako was caught by the Dai Li and Azula, he’s either with Katara and Zuko or he’s with the Earth King when the coup goes down.”

“Great,” Lu Ten said. “Let’s just check around the house and the tea shop, if he’s not there well I guess we wait. Are you sure you have no clue where this crystal cave prison is?”

“Underground,” Iroh said. “That’s all I know.”

Lu Ten’s head dropped and Iroh rested his hand on the back of his neck.

“He’ll be fine,” Iroh said. “He’s Mako.”

“That’s the problem,” Lu Ten muttered. “He’s probably gone off on some side track because his curiosity got the better of him.”

Iroh was about to defend Mako but Lu Ten wasn’t wrong with that statement.

They checked the tea shop first as it was closest.

The building was dark as it was closed and Iroh had no clue where Uncle Iroh and his grandfather actually lived so they weren’t able to do much other than search the area. Mako’s shoe was found outside in an alleyway a few buildings over.

Iroh and Lu Ten traded a look.

“So, he was taken from here?” Lu Ten asked.

“Maybe,” Iroh said, “but there’s also the possibility he just took his shoes off.”

“Earthbenders,” Lu Ten muttered. “Never has his stupid shoes on.”

Iroh snorted.

“Look,” Iroh said. “I know you’re going to hate this but at this point it’s looking like we need to wait for Aang. We can see if Katara’s been taken yet while we’re there.”

Lu Ten sighed rubbing his hands over his face. “Okay,” he said, “let’s go.”

The house was just as dark as the tea shop. It was clear no one had been here since at least the morning.

“They got her,” Iroh said. “Which means the rest should be back tomorrow at some point.”

“So, what, we wait here?” Lu Ten asked.

“You’re the lock pick,” Iroh said, gesturing Lu Ten towards the door.

“I’m not breaking into the Avatar’s house!” Lu Ten said.

“Then sleep in the streets,” Iroh said, moving to try and climb through a window.

“Iroh!” Lu Ten said. “You’ll get us caught!”

“Then unlock the door!” Iroh shouted back.

Lu Ten huffed but a few minutes later the front door swung open. Iroh immediately crashed on the floor. Lu Ten laid down next to him and pulled him into a tight hug.

“I’m worried about him too,” Iroh said.

Lu Ten buried his face into his chest and said nothing. They were quiet for a while before a thought occurred to Iroh.

“Am I just not good enough to kidnap?” Iroh said.

“What?” Lu Ten whispered.

“Am I not good enough to kidnap?” Iroh repeated. “It’s always you or Mako.”

“Go to bed,” Lu Ten demanded, before pausing. “June kidnapped you the once.”

Iroh laughed but followed the other man’s request and went to bed. He barely noticed as Momo joined their pile on the floor.

“Momo!”

Iroh jolted awake, water already at the ready before realizing it was just Aang and the others returning home.

“What are you doing here?” Toph asked.

“Where’s my sister?” Sokka demanded stepping forward.

“Whoa, wait,” Iroh said, holding his hands up in surrender. “I don’t know, I was hoping you could help us find Mako. He’s missing after checking up on you guys and a few other people last night. Your house was empty so we waited to see if you’d come back.”

“No one was here?” Aang said. “I knew it! Katara’s in trouble!”

“How do we know they aren’t lying after the stunt they pulled with the lake?” Sokka asked.

“They aren’t,” Toph said. “By the way there’s someone at the door.”

A knock sounded on the door.

“Actually,” Toph said, “I know who it is. It’s an old friend of mine. You guys probably remember him from that training we did out in the desert-lands.”

Toph opened the door and on the other side was Uncle Iroh.

“Glad to see you again,” she said.

“Hey, boss man,” Iroh called.

“Ah, good, you’re both here,” Uncle Iroh said. “I need your help.”

“You too then,” Iroh said, unsurprised but faking it for the others.

“I’m sorry?” Uncle Iroh asked in confusion.

“Katara and Mako are missing too,” Iroh said. “Got any news to share on that front?”

“May I come in?” Uncle Iroh asked.

Toph nodded, gesturing him into the house. Aang and Sokka were weary but willing to hear him out. Iroh supposed his great-granduncle left a good enough impression on the kids.

“Princess Azula is here in Ba Sing Se,” Uncle Iroh explained.

“She must have Katara,” Aang guessed.

“She has captured my nephew as well,” Uncle Iroh said.

“And Mako,” Lu Ten added. “He went missing last night and the Dai Li aren’t exactly on our side right now. If she’s got an in with the higher ups this won’t end well.”

“No,” Aang said, “we'll work together to fight Azula, and save Katara, Mako and Zuko.”

Sokka pointed at Aang. “Whoa there,” he said, “you lost me at Zuko.”

Uncle Iroh moved forwards to place a hand on Sokka’s shoulder. “I know how you must feel about my nephew,” he said, “but believe me when I tell you that there is good inside him.”

“He’s a bit damaged,” Lu Ten said, “but he’s a good kid.”

“Good inside him isn’t enough,” Sokka said, shoving Uncle Iroh’s hand away. “Why don't you come back when it's outside him too, okay?”

“Katara's in trouble,” Aang implored. “All of Ba Sing Se is in trouble. Working together is our best chance.”

“Well, why can’t we just work together with them?” Sokka said, pointing to Iroh and Lu Ten.

“Weren’t you just complaining about us?” Iroh asked. He wasn’t amused by how much time they were wasting.

Sokka gave up and Uncle Iroh walked towards the door.

“I brought someone along who might help us,” Uncle Iroh said.

Iroh burst out laughing at the Dai Li agent that was tied up. Toph trapped them in earth pillars forcing him to stand.

The agent wasn’t very loyal because as soon as the gag was removed, he was already spilling secrets. “Azula and Long Feng are plotting a coup,” the Dai Li agent said. “They're going to overthrow the Earth King!”

“Yeah,” Lu Ten said, “we got that part. Where are the prisoners?”

“In the Crystal Catacombs of Old Ba Sing Se, deep beneath the palace,” the agent said.

“Thanks,” Iroh said as the group ran off leaving the Dai Li agent behind.

They got as close to the palace as they dared before Toph placed her hand down on the ground.

“Well, what do you know?” she said. “There is an ancient city down there, but it’s deep.”

Toph made the beginning of a tunnel.

“We should split up,” Sokka suggested. “Aang, you go with Iroh and one of the others to look for Katara, Mako and the angry jerk. No offense.”

Iroh had to hide his laughter in Lu Ten shoulder. He could feel the other man’s smirk in his hair.

“None taken,” Uncle Iroh said, shrugging slightly.

“I’ll take Toph and whichever doesn’t go with Aang and go warn the Earth King of Azula’s coup,” Sokka continued.

“Lu isn’t going into that tunnel,” Iroh said.

“If Mako’s at the other end of it, there’s no limit to what I’d do to get there,” Lu Ten said. Iroh startled at the tone. He had never heard Lu Ten talk like that before.

“So, who’s going with Aang?” Iroh asked.

“Both of us,” Lu Ten said. “I’m not losing you either. You’re staying with me.”

Iroh shrugged and waved Sokka and Toph off.

Lu Ten grabbed Iroh’s hand tightly and followed Uncle Iroh and Aang underground.

Two small flames lit the area as Aang slowly earthbent them forward.

“I know who you are,” Uncle Iroh said, after a moment of silence.

“Ah, who?” Aang asked.

“Not you, Lu Ten,” Uncle Iroh corrected. He paused, bringing the group to a standstill.

“When did you figure it out?” Lu Ten asked, his voice hoarse.

“I suspected back in the desert,” Uncle Iroh said, bringing his hand up to his son’s face, “but I knew that day we had tea with a stranger.”

“Why didn’t you say anything then?” Lu Ten asked.

“It was not the right time,” Uncle Iroh said. “You weren’t ready to be known and I respected that. You still aren’t ready to be known but I wanted you to know, no matter what happens here today that I have never been prouder to call you my son. I won’t ask any questions, not now, but one day I would love to discuss the past five years over tea together.”

“I’d like that too,” Lu Ten said as his father hugged him tightly.

Iroh could hear the emotion threatening to spill from Lu Ten’s throat. The other man swallowed it down. Iroh didn’t break the moment, even knowing that Uncle Iroh was about to be arrested. He wondered if Uncle Iroh was prepared for such a thing, and if that was why he reveled his hand to Lu Ten.

“Your boyfriends were unexpected,” Uncle Iroh said, “but I like them.”

Iroh made a face at being called Lu Ten’s boyfriend. It wasn’t the right label bit Iroh decided to let the comment slide for the time being. Later he’d correct his great-granduncle, if it ever came up again.

Lu Ten groaned. “Please let’s not talk about it,” Lu Ten said.

“No, it’s fine,” Uncle Iroh said. “Far be it from me to wonder why my son never bothered to tell me he was gay. I had to find out from Rozin.”

“I didn’t tell you Lu was gay,” Iroh objected. Aang was watching the interaction with wide eyes. He was clearly confused. “Lu Ten is Iroh’s son. Lu Ten supposedly died five years ago but he’s actually been alive and acting against the Fire Nation as a member of the Sons of Agni.”

Lu Ten and Uncle Iroh looked at him in confusion but Iroh just gestured at Aang who nodded.

“Well, you implied it at least,” Uncle Iroh corrected.

“You didn’t even know it was Lu Ten at the time!” Iroh said.

Uncle Iroh hummed and the group fell silent. The room dimmed slightly as Uncle Iroh wasn’t letting go of Lu Ten’s other hand, leaving Lu Ten unable to create another light. Iroh supposed he could let go of Lu Ten’s hand but he knew better. Lu Ten would get upset with it.

“So,” Aang said into the silence, “Toph thinks you give pretty good advice, and great tea!”

“The key to both is proper aging,” Uncle Iroh said. “What's on your mind?”

Aang didn’t answer at first, clearing more pathway for them first. Every time he did so Lu Ten’s grip clamped down harder on Iroh’s hand. He must have also been squeezing his father’s hand as Uncle Iroh kept sending Lu Ten concerned looks.

“Well, I met with this guru who was supposed to help me master the Avatar State and control this great power, but to do it, I had to let go of someone I love,” Aang explained, “and I just couldn't.”

“Perfection and power are overrated,” Uncle Iroh said. “Spending four years thinking my son had died because I had chosen my military career over the safety of my men, of my son, taught me that lesson the hard way. I think you were very wise to choose happiness and love. I wish I had been that wise but I suppose things work out in the end.”

“What happens if we can't save anyone and beat Azula?” Aang asked. “Without the Avatar State, what if I'm not powerful enough?”

“Then you’ve got us,” Iroh said, poking the kid in the back, “and if that isn’t enough, well, there’s always next time.”

“I see what my nephew meant about you,” Uncle Iroh said, “you are starting to sound like me, you just need to learn a few proverbs. Sometimes, life is like this dark tunnel. You can't always see the light at the end of the tunnel, but if you just keep moving, you will come to a better place. See, does that not sound better?”

Iroh rolled his eyes at the joke, as Aang busted through the last barrier into the prison cell.

“Aang!”

Katara’s yell startled him slightly. The young woman barreled into Aang at neck break speed.

Lu Ten followed her example practically slamming into Mako.

“Aang, I knew you would come,” Katara said.

Uncle Iroh hugged Zuko as well.

“Mako, Mako, Mako,” Lu Ten said lifting Mako from the ground. Iroh could hear the fear and elation in Lu Ten’s voice. It was then that Iroh realized it was usually Lu Ten who went missing and this was the first time they had really lost Mako. 

“Hey, about time you two got here,” Mako said once Lu Ten stopped trying to devour his mouth.

Iroh cuffed him. “Well, if you hadn’t gotten captured, it wouldn’t have been a problem,” Iroh said, before clarity struck him. What had Mako been doing this whole time if he was able to earthbend? 

“Speaking of which why were you down here this whole time if you could have just earthbent out?” Iroh asked.

“Oh well, I was chained up and -,” Mako was cut off by Zuko.

“Uncle, I don't understand. What are you doing with the Avatar?” Zuko asked.

“Saving you, that’s what,” Aang said.

Lu Ten stepped between the two boys.

“Kiddo, just take the win,” Lu Ten said. He sounded tired and emotionally drained.

“Uncle, who are these two and why is Rozin with them?” Zuko asked.

“It’s not important,” Uncle Iroh said. “Zuko, it's time we talked.”

“Go help you other friends. We'll catch up with you,” he continued, gesturing them out the door.

Katara and Aang didn’t need to be told twice and were already gone when Iroh turned to them. He was about to follow when he realized Lu Ten wasn’t with them.

“Go,” Uncle Iroh said as he shoved Lu Ten lightly towards them.

With Lu Ten now following Iroh didn’t waste time trying to catch up with Aang and Katara, even if it meant Mako and Lu Ten fell behind.

The tunnel in front of him lit up with blue light and Iroh ran faster, Lu Ten and Mako finally keeping pace even if Lu Ten was hopping oddly on his bad leg to do so.

Iroh slid into the huge chamber where the other two were fighting Azula and immediately dropped a wave of water down on his great-aunt.

Azula shot a glare at him but before he could get closer, Dai Li agents slid down from the ceiling. Iroh felt his blood run cold at that. There was a very dark and heavy air emitting from the Dai Li agents. Iroh felt a shiver run down his spine and knew, whatever did happen today, they couldn’t get captured by these men again.

Iroh could only watch as Azula formed a standoff with Aang and Katara which was only broken when Zuko fired on Aang.

“Lu,” Iroh called, “you need to be prepared. Mako and I will handle the Dai Li.”

Iroh realized his request was easier said than done as Lu Ten seemed to be the main target of the Dai Li, followed by Mako. The two were slowly being backed into a wall. Iroh gathered water around him in a circle and rolled forward bringing the circle through the feet of the Dai Li and knocking them off balance.

Lu Ten only had a second but launching from the wall he was backed up to, Lu Ten shot up and over the Dai Li agents and towards the other battle. Iroh didn’t have the time to see if Lu Ten had reached Azula as the Dai Li agents turned on him.

Iroh was thrown back and flipped over himself as he slammed into the river that ran through the cavern. While it hurt, it was ultimately a mistake for the Dai Li. Why they thought tossing the waterbender into a river, was a good idea, Iroh didn’t know, but he was taking advantage.

Iroh brought a huge wave down onto the Dai Li agents before finding himself being launched skyward. Iroh looked up and realized he was about to be skewered between the pillar rising under him and the stalactite above him. Iroh managed to roll from the top of the pillar but his hand still got somewhat caught between the two.

Iroh screamed and dropped to the ground when the pillar receded. It wasn’t broke but it was sliced to pieces. Iroh dipped his hand in one of the puddles on the ground as he took in the battle.

Katara had sent a sharp slice of water towards Azula that nearly too the other girls head off. On the other side of the room Zuko was using fire whips to try and take down Aang who was jumping along the top of the cave. Aang dropped a stalactite down on Zuko, sending him flying backwards into a crystal.

Lu Ten had joined Katara in fighting Azula at that point, or rather, Lu Ten was ducking and dodging Azula’s attacks while waiting for the moment when she would lightning bend.

Katara knocked Azula to the ground and created a wall of water tentacles around herself as Azula regained her feet.

With his hand now healed Iroh wasted no time rejoining the fight. Mako was completely surrounded at that point by Dai Li agents and was fighting defensively as he continually broke the cuffs sent his way, both the rock cuffs and the metal chain cuffs.

Iroh paused at that before shaking his head. He’d ask Mako when he learned to metalbend later.

“I thought you had changed,” Katara yelled out.

Iroh didn’t hear a reply as he once again swept the Dai Li’s feet out from under them. Iroh was sunk into the ground to his knees for that.

Mako’s eyes locked on him before lifting up to a point behind him. Iroh heard a nasty crack as a bolder when soaring over his head. Mako pulled him from the ground and when Iroh turned there wasn’t much left to whatever body was under the boulder.

Mako didn’t kill often, but when he did it was very terrifying. It was coming more easily to him which was slightly worrying. Iroh wasn’t complaining as he was sure the man was about to kill him too, but still.

Mako nodded to him and helped Iroh stand properly. They watched as even more Dai Li agents poured into the room. Lu Ten had gotten knocked back and away from Azula but was quick to bounce back to his feet as Katara was knocked to the ground.

“Lu!” Iroh called as Aang locked himself into his crystal barricade. “Soon.”

Lu Ten glanced at him but kept his attention on Azula as he nodded. Lu Ten attacked his cousin with a furious precision. He wasn’t aiming to hurt her but it was clear Lu Ten had the upper hand as Azula was forced to retreat from him.

Aang’s crystal hideout shattered as Mako and Iroh ran forward to help Katara battle the Dai Li. The room paused as everyone looked up to see Aang rising into the air.  
Lu Ten was practically on top of Azula at this point and for a wild moment, Iroh thought they could actually pull this off.

Then three things happened seemingly at once. Azula took a stance and started moving to fire a blot in Aang’s direction. Lu Ten moved to grab her hand and redirect the lightning right as Zuko, throwing all bending to the wayside, tackled Lu Ten to the ground.

Iroh’s blood froze as he watched the lighting make contact with Lu Ten’s hand. It went in but as Lu Ten and Zuko hit the ground it never came out.

“No,” Iroh and Mako shouted at once. Aang’s body lit up the sky as another bolt shot him in the back but Iroh’s eyes were locked on Lu Ten. 

Iroh didn’t even care that he was his grandfather at this point, Iroh slammed Zuko back into a pile of crystals and froze him there. He didn’t care as crystals creeped over the boy’s arms and legs as well.

Iroh ran his hand over Lu Ten’s back.

“Lu?” Iroh questioned as his great-granduncle joined the battle.

“Lu?” Mako asked, softly reaching for Lu Ten’s hand.

He was still breathing but it was a shallow thing.

“We need to leave,” Iroh said, watching as Uncle Iroh fight Azula, Zuko and the Dai Li single handedly. Katara and Aang had already left.

Iroh lifted Lu Ten over his shoulder and carried the man from the room. Mako watched their backs but with Aang down, Azula wasn’t too concerned with stopping any retreats. Uncle Iroh held the rooms attention. 

They slipped carefully back the way they came. Iroh’s shoulder was throbbing from the dead weight of Lu Ten but Iroh’s wasn’t letting him go.

Above ground did not match the chaos just under their feet, the entire city was unaware of what had just happened and what was to come. Iroh tightened his grip on Lu Ten as the man groaned.

“Lu?” Iroh asked, lowering him to the ground.

“Hurts,” Lu Ten said. “Burns.”

Mako let out a sigh of relief. “It didn’t hit his heart,” he said.

“Didn’t get a chance to redirect it,” Lu Ten said, a bit more coherently. “It hit my hand. It hurts so bad.”

Lu Ten’s voice broke. Iroh looked down at his hand and realized with horror that weird vine like lines ran up his arm.

“Oh,” Iroh said, looking between Mako’s right arm and Lu Ten’s left. “Lightning scars.”

Iroh shook himself and launched into action trying to heal the marks on Lu Ten’s arms. Lu Ten’s arm was spasming uncontrollably as his nerves reacted to the electricity that had just ran through it.

“You two aren’t allowed to get injured anymore,” Iroh declared as Lu Ten sighed in relief at the cool water touching his arms.

“I failed,” Lu Ten said.

“We all did,” Mako said. “Even the Avatar did. We’ll be fine.”

Lu Ten looked away.

“Hey,” Iroh said, “Zuko’s the one who tackled you. You tired and that’s what matters. We lost this round but we will win. You’ll have other opportunities to prove yourself, not that you need to. You know, that right? Even if the rest of the world hates you, Mako and I will always be proud of you.”

“Did everyone at least make it out?” Lu Ten asked.

Iroh closed his eyes.

“Your dad,” Mako said. “He surrendered so we could escape.”

Lu Ten laid his head back on the ground.

“He’ll be fine,” Iroh assured. “He’s going to escape soon anyway.”

A small smile graced Lu Ten’s lips. “Sounds about right,” he said before looking around.

“What next?” he asked. “We can’t stay here.”

“We’re in the middle of a city about to be under siege,” Iroh said, “we need to leave before the real military gets here.”

“I figured that,” Mako said, lifting Lu Ten to his feet with his good hand and letting the other man lean on him.

They moved quickly back the way they came. They kept to the canals, moving through the water as quickly as they could. It was nightfall as they slipped into the Lower Ring. Mako closed the shelter behind them as he started to back up all their things. 

Lu Ten watched with a blank expression on his face. Iroh tried his best to ignore the look on Lu Ten’s face, but his attention kept drifting back to him. Lu Ten wasn’t going to like what he h ad to say.

“We need to be in the Fire Nation,” Iroh said, carefully.

Lu Ten startled and looked over at him in question. “Why?” he asked.

“That’s where the war is going next,” Mako answered. 

Lu Ten looked up at the rock ceiling as if he could see through to the city above. “Pretty sure it’s coming here,” Lu Ten said. “We should stay. These people need our help.”

“Lu, what’s even left to conquer, now? This is a fruitless fight. We can’t regain this ground until the main power is taken out,” Iroh said. “No, the fight is in the Fire Nation, now.”

“The fight is everywhere,” Lu Ten insisted. He sighed, gripping his arm. “Look, how long until the fight makes it to the Fire Nation?”

“A month and a half,” Iroh said, doing a quick calculation in his head. “Well, technically we have two months, but it would be better if we made contact with them beforehand.”

“Okay,” Lu Ten said. “Compromise, then. My arm is killing me and these people need protection. We can build one of our networks here, and then we can leave. That way, even if there is no helping them outright at least they can help themselves.”

Iroh traded a glance with Mako. “Lu Ten does need to heal,” Mako said. “When I got hit like that I couldn’t been properly for weeks. Traveling right now isn’t a good idea, particularly with how much trouble we can get into. Not to mention, he is right. The Lower Ring in particular is in danger, as most of those refugees are known by the Fire Nation as those who got away. There are a lot of wanted people down there. They at the least need our help.”

“We get into trouble even when we aren’t traveling, but you both are right,” Iroh said. “We’ll stay for now, but if things get too hairy here, we leave, Lu Ten healed or not, network set up or not.”

“Deal,” Lu Ten said, holding his good hand out. Iroh rolled his eyes but shook it before moving to heal Lu Ten’s damaged arm some more. Without the rush from the city, Iroh might as well make use of their new time. 

He just hoped they wouldn’t get stuck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This book drove me crazy. It was such a struggle. 
> 
> Anyway, I'm going to be writing ahead on Book 3 Desire so expect a months wait on that. I should start posting it the last week of January or the first week of February. I recommend subscribing to the series, if you want to know when it's posted. Otherwise, I will also post it on Tumblr. Also I'm re-working Book 4 so don't be surprised when I get to it and it's shorter then the rest. There isn't as much to cover there.
> 
> See you in the New Year (at least with this series), feel free to check out my other stories in the mean time.

**Author's Note:**

> Also, check out this cool fanart. I'm absolutely dying over it: [ chase-the-freaking-stars ](https://chase-the-freakin-stars.tumblr.com/post/621963695178776576/i-binged-all-of-old-and-new-friendss-fanfic)


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